Piper rubbed her temples in an effort to make the arguing disappear. But when it didn't, she blew up the basket of muffins and shouted, "Enough!"
Stunned into silence by the pieces of muffins splattering them, everyone stared at Piper in surprise.
With a glare, and unconcerned for the moment by the mess, she ordered everyone to take two steps back away from one another. "I don't want Phoebe or the boys to wake up and, for God's sake, Leo, sit down before you keel over." She practically dragged him by the elbow to a seat at the table while she sat next to him at the head.
Realizing her sister meant business, Paige sat opposite Leo, next to Piper. She gave an encouraging smile to Kyle who then sat at her other side.
To Piper's annoyance, Cole remained standing. "You waiting for an engraved invitation?" She pointed to the seat opposite her, at the foot of the table and next to Kyle, and ordered, "You first. Explain why you say Kyle's a demon when you don't know a thing about him."
"You do remember I can track demons…" he calmly replied as he leaned back, relishing in the return of his original senses. "Hell, he's practically reeking demon." He balled a fist when Kyle made a move towards him and was about to create an energy ball when Piper slammed her hand on the table.
"Dammit, Cole," Piper hissed as Paige restrained Kyle, "this isn't the demonic playground. Explain. Now."
"He's a Gloryhound," he muttered and folded his arms across his chest before acknowledging their skeptical expressions with a sigh. "You wouldn't be able to pronounce their real names. Suffice it to say, they are what it sounds like. Gloryhounds will relentlessly pursue a single agenda until they reach the ultimate glory."
"Which is…" Paige warily said.
"Praise and reward from the Source," he answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's not much in terms of lineage seeing as how Gloryhounds can't be helpful to anyone else until they've completed that one mission. And, as often is the case, they're vanquished so the point is moot. Still, I suppose, a demon's a demon."
"You're out of your mind," Kyle snapped.
"So I've been told," Cole shrugged.
"Leo?" Piper questioned, trying not to worry about his pale countenance.
"We didn't know what kind of demon but it's true," he told her as he rested his arms on the table and hunched forward. "I didn't have a chance to tell you because of what happened to Chris but the Elders sai-"
"You went to the Elders about Kyle?" Paige uttered in outrage.
Kyle placed a hand on her arm and told Leo, "Go on."
"They weren't aware of the Avatars' involvement in your parents' deaths but," he acknowledged, "given recent circumstances, the Elders believe it's more than possible. The fact is, they don't have much information at all on the Avatars which's why they're leery of them and anything they offer."
"What about him being a demon?" Paige asked. "They actually confirmed that?"
"I'm sorry, Kyle," Leo apologized, "but what Cole said about Gloryhounds fits with what the Elders uncovered. Your parents' lives, everything you knew them to be, was simply a cover."
"For what," Kyle scoffed, "some dark evil mission? My parents were normal everyday people who got caught up with the legend of the Avatars and weren't the enemy. Besides, you just admitted the Avatars are the enemy."
"No," Leo patiently disagreed, "what I said was that the Elders are leery because there's not much information available on the Avatars. They did, however, discover that, up until thirty years ago, your parents didn't exist, not really. That's why you never knew your grandparents. It's not that they'd died, it's that they'd never actually existed. Your parents had created their pasts and everyone in it."
"What about all the pictures and home movies?" Kyle asked in shock.
"Easy to manufacture," Cole replied simply.
"So their marriage and Kyle," Piper gasped, seeing Kyle in a new light, "none of it's real?"
"That's not true!" Kyle retorted. "My parents had a great marriage and they loved each other like you wouldn't believe and they loved me. They taught me about being a good person and having moral values. There's no way they were demons!"
"Gloryhounds are relentless until they've achieved their goal," Cole repeated. "Chances are your parents were in so deep they began to believe their own cover."
"To what, find a way to destroy the Avatars?" Piper thought aloud. "And if they were demons, wouldn't that automatically make the Avatars the good guys?"
"Avatars are beyond good and evil," Cole announced. "They want power to shape the world. Offering you a utopia would be a convenient way to bring you to their side but it's entirely possible they made a similar offer to the Underworld."
"No demon wants a utopia," Paige said in exasperation. "It's just one more reason proving the danger of the Avatars if they're offering to side with demons."
"I didn't say it happened," Cole clarified, "just that it was possible. I never even heard of the Avatars until they approached me and, looking back on their offer, it was probably made only because of my powers at the time."
"The Avatars believe in Utopia," Leo argued. "Following them now would mean peace for us. No more worrying over when the next demon will attack."
"Just because Phoebe had a vision," Paige said, "doesn't mean it's real. The Avatars could've planted the images in her head."
"No wonder demons would be so desperate to destroy the Avatars," Piper realized.
"Unless they weren't worried about the Avatars," Cole suggested. "There's no way the Source would've joined the Avatars even if he'd liked what he'd heard. He would never agree to answer to any other being but himself and he was certainly arrogant enough to believe he could rid the world of good and rule above all others."
"Then why'd Kyle's parents go after the Avatars?" Piper asked. "Wouldn't that be going against the Source's wishes?"
Cole shrugged, "He might not have thought of the Avatars as a real enough threat if they were coming to him for help. I'd say it was more than likely that the Gloryhounds were working on their own, thinking they would be rewarded greatly if they provided the Source with a power to hold over the Avatars."
"The Avatars are limited in power," Leo quietly admitted. "There are so few members that it's taken them all these centuries to regain their footing and approach our world again with their offer of hope. To lose another member now would -"
"What d'you mean another member?" Piper fearfully asked.
Leo reached for her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "That's what happened before. An Avatar was killed."
"And it affected you that badly?" she nervously questioned, gripping his hand tightly.
"So it's over then," Paige declared. "It took two years for them to come back after losing him," she indicated to Cole, "so there's no way they're ready now to turn this world into a utopia." She smiled at Kyle, "Maybe your potion can weaken them further."
Piper thought her eyes would explode from their sockets as she took in her sister's almost gleeful expression, "What, Leo's nearly dying wasn't enough for you?"
"I'm not saying use the potion on Leo," Paige snapped. "But getting rid of the Avatars might just free him and he'll be back to the Elder he was before. No conflicts. Everything'll be back to normal."
"It doesn't work that way, Paige," Leo shook his head. "Their powers are a part of me now. What you do to them will affect me. And I don't think they'd be able to recover from another attack. Not for quite some time, maybe even centuries. They need your help now more than ever."
"They?" Cole pointedly asked. "Aren't you one of they? It seems to me Paige might actually be right about -"
"Whoa, did hell just freeze over?" Paige interrupted with a sarcastic smile. "Did the great all-knowing Belthazor just say a Charmed One was right?"
"I never claimed to be all-knowing," he smirked in return. "And don't let it go to your head, it might not stand the strain." He ignored her sputtering and told Leo, "Take it from Phoebe, you're going to have to choose a side and stick to it or you'll -"
"This isn't the time to rehash the past," Piper insisted, trying to ignore the bickering which, for a moment, had almost seemed like old times. Times when they'd been happy, a family even. She shook her head and got back on track, "We've got bigger problems."
Leo had spoken at the same time and glared at Cole, "I told you when I saved you why I joined them but that doesn't mean I don't want a utopia either."
"Well you certainly won't get a utopia if demons are kidnapping the Charmed Ones' babies as a diversion for killing Avatars," Cole stated.
"Zankou made his move," Piper nodded angrily, "one he's gonna regret."
"Zankou, hmmm," Cole considered, "the Source imprisoned Zankou long before I was even born. But if you're right about him being free, you'll need every available resource to vanquish him."
"Now you know why I chose you," Leo wearily told him.
"I know nothing of the sort," Cole barked before clenching his hands into fists. "I don't have the power you need to defeat Zankou." And, he thought, "Nor do I have the power to survive another rejection by Phoebe."
Leo disagreed, "You're exactly the power we need."
"You don't get it," Cole insisted. "I'm not invincible with all these Wasteland powers and I'm certainly not an Avatar."
"But you do have knowledge and you are clever," Piper reluctantly admitted. "And you do know your way around the Underworld."
Cole stared at her in surprise for a moment before saying, "Thanks…I think." Deciding to spare Piper by not teasing her about the smile she nearly formed, he got back to the subject of Zankou, "You know, if you really do have an Avatar vanquish, you could probably use it on Zankou instead. You have to decide, though, who's your bigger threat."
"The Avatars," Paige declared.
"Zankou," Piper stated at the same time. She glanced at her youngest sister but didn't reply to the comment.
"The Avatars want to change the world," Paige told her older sister. "Zankou's just like any other power-hungry demon. He wants to kill witches and rule the Underworld. We'll vanquish him sooner or later and won't need a one-of-kind potion to do it. We can't waste the only potion we have on him."
"Don't underestimate Zankou," Cole cautioned. "The Source didn't imprison him and forbid his release because he was like any other power-hungry demon. Make no mistake, he is that powerful and he will rid the world of the Charmed Ones."
"Unless you use the right bait for him," Kyle quietly suggested. "I'm the one with the Avatar vanquish. I could probably make him some sort of deal."
He'd been quiet for so long that Paige's head snapped back in his direction when he spoke, "What?"
"But why would Zankou need the potion if he's already killed an Avatar without it?" Piper considered.
"Because with the right kind of black magic," Cole replied, "he could alter the potion to affect more than one Avatar."
"He's right," Leo realized. "The Avatars are linked through their powers. Zankou might be able to wipe out all Avatars even if he only attacked a single one." He saw the fear in Piper's eyes and tenderly acknowledged, "Yes, even me."
"Isn't it worth a shot?" Kyle asked with a sigh. "I'm sure I'd have no trouble convincing Zankou of my intent toward the Avatars and the fact that I'm a demon would only be more proof that -"
"You don't believe that do you?" Paige interrupted. "You're not a demon, Kyle."
"I've told you what the Elders believe," Leo reminded her. "And then there's Cole's ability to sense demons…"
Kyle reached for Paige's hand, "Some of it makes sense, Paige. Their whole professional lives may have been fabricated just so my parents could research and find the vanquish for the Avatars. I might not've been anything more than a convenient extension of their cover."
"You can't believe that!" she sharply told him. "Why would they need to hide out as mortals if they were demons? And why wouldn't they've used their powers to protect themselves? No, Kyle, your parents were good people. You went into law enforcement because of them. Don't let anyone else convince you otherwise."
"Maybe they weren't powerful enough to stop the Avatars. They were taken by surprise that night. And haven't I been relentless myself?" he countered with a wry smile. "All my adult life I was trying to find proof that magic existed just so I could find the Avatars and make them pay for killing my parents. Everything I put you and your sisters through, blackmailing you, just put me one step closer to achieving my goal. Maybe I am some sort of latent Gloryhound."
"We all obsess at times," she argued. "Ask Piper, ask Phoebe. But it doesn't make us Gloryhounds."
"What about the fact that Kyle can touch the Book?" Piper reminded everyone. "Or the fact that Wyatt hasn't once put up his shield in front of Kyle?"
Pleased by her sister's sudden acknowledgement of Kyle's goodness, Paige smiled, "See?"
"The Book senses evil intent and if he didn't know…Besides," Cole thought aloud, "his parents probably bound his powers at birth and Wyatt's too young to sense it."
Leo nodded, "I know this is hard to accept, Kyle, and learning about your heritage probably won't change who you are, but it is the truth. You are a Gloryhound."
"I imagine there's a way to unbind your powers," Cole said. "I could go down to -"
"No!" Piper practically shouted. "No going down there. I don't want anyone finding out that you're back. Right now you're our ace-in-the-hole."
"Good to know that pink potion won't be used," he remarked, referring to the vanquish Paige had prepared.
"Not yet," Paige muttered loud enough for him to hear.
"Maybe the Book has an entry," Leo suggested, hoping to diffuse a potential blow-up between the witches and Cole, "Gloryhounds have been around for centuries." Only for brief, almost unconscious, moments, had the girls displayed any weakening in their grudges towards Cole but it wasn't enough. They were going to have to find a new way to accept Cole's return, at least for the moment, and work together to defeat the threat they were facing.
Piper reluctantly turned from Cole and focused on her sister, "There might be something in Magic School, maybe you should check it out."
"I don't believe this," Paige grumbled. "Kyle's good. He's not some demon."
"Maybe you should check it out," Kyle told her when he suddenly stood and exited the kitchen. "I need some air anyway."
"Kyle, wait…" After exchanging a quick glance with her older sister, Paige hurried after Kyle.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" Piper asked her husband.
"Kyle's a good man," Leo said, "but this will be hard. It's not like we can call his parents' spirits and ask them for the truth or give him peace."
"Why not?" Cole asked. "Even if they were undercover, if they were as good as you said for thirty years, wouldn't that leave some resonance of their spirit somewhere?"
"The Wasteland?"
Cole shook his head at Piper's suggestion, "They're not there, believe me."
"Just give him time," Leo said as he wearily rose.
"What if we don't have time?" Piper asked. "What if it comes down to Kyle making a choice?"
"Then you'd better pray he's as good as you believe," Cole cautioned, "or he could very well be the key to destroying all that's good."
888888888888888888888888888888888888
