Disclaimer:

None of these characters are mine. All characters from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Charmed are the property of Joss Whedon and Aaron Spelling, respectively.

Summary:

Crossover between the Charmed and Buffy universes. Cole is at the office. Willow drops by furious. Cole has a development in his case.

Author's Note: Please read and review.

Chapter Fourteen – The Plot Thickens

Cole looked up from his paperwork and frowned. He could feel her. And, she was furious. You could feel the dark waves of rage and fury billowing out from her. Hell! Phoebe must've really pissed her off. She was still miles away. He could the feel the beast within respond at the her rage. He swore savagely as he tried to suppress his own mirrored feelings. "Leah," Cole pressed the button for his secretary. "Please hold all calls until further notice and show my wife straight in when she arrives."

"But, Mr. Turner," the secretary began hesitantly. She recognized the tone of his voice. He never really got angry at her or their coworkers. He was a very considerate boss, which is why she'd followed from Los Angeles to San Francisco when he asked her to. (That, and the fact that she really hated LA. Especially after all that weirdness around five or six years ago, when all the strange things were seen flying in the sky and the next day an entire law office disappeared.) But, you could always tell when he was in a rage, it was in his eyes and he got very, very quiet. Hopefully, Mrs. Turner would be able to help.

"No, buts, Leah." His voice softened as he tried to remember not to frighten her. "I just need a little time."

"Yes, sir." She had turned her head back towards her work, when Mrs. Turner arrived, and very, very furious. Leah sighed. There would be no help here. She smiled and stood up.

Willow was still furious, but she stopped short when she saw Cole's secretary. She liked Leah very much. She pasted a friendly smile on her face, but Leah saw that it was very tense smile. Leah stepped forward. "It's so nice to see you, Mrs. Turner. Your husband said for you to go straight in. I do hope there's nothing wrong with the children?"

Willow took a deep breath, and smiled more broadly at Leah. "No, no, I just need to talk to Cole. Thank you for asking. See you, Leah." The door opened and Cole ushered her in. He winked at Leah. She sighed.

"Willow. What the hell happened? I could feel your fury miles away." Cole grabbed her and tried to pull him into his arms.

"No!" Willow cried. "I'm too angry right now."

Willow's anger and power snapped back at him like rubber band stretched tight. The pain struck like a dagger in the center of his brain. He flinched backwards and stumbled into his desk. Willow's was still pacing the floor of his office furiously, ignorant of the pain she had unintentionally caused. Cole was becoming more and more concerned. Her rage was filling him and seducing the demon within. He shuddered as he once more suppressed the demon, which took a great deal more effort this time. He needed to calm her down. And he needed to do it soon.

He reached out with his own magic. Trying to get her attention. "Please, baby," he cooed. "At least talk to me."

The combination of the soft cooing of his voice and the seduction of his own dark power was delicious. She looked into his eyes and was lost. She stifled a small sob and ran to him. He enveloped her in his arms as he felt the rage slowly slip away. She looked into his eyes and wept. She could see the pain in his eyes. She had hurt him once again. She cringed. "Why, Cole?" she cried. "Why do I have such power to hurt you? I don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, baby, I'm not hurt. Much." he smiled in that engaging way he had, which made you feel he'd just beat the house in Las Vegas. "I just want to know what happened. Here."

Cole led her to the chair behind his desk. He sat down and pulled her on top of his lap. All in all, a very enjoyable position. Looking down, his eyes caressed her legs all the way down to those delightful shoes she was wearing again. Willow shifted on his lap and he growled in response. She giggled and shimmied a little more. "Well, it's about that ex-wife of yours. She's infuriating!"

"And this is new?"

"It's new for me! I was friendly and polite and all she wanted to do was to warn me about the big bad I married and tell me it was only a matter of time.."

"..before he went crazy and killed all your family and friends."

"Something like that."

"Honey, it'll be okay, Phoebe's just a little hot-headed."

"A little? Sweetie, what if she and her sisters decide to make it a war?"

"Then they'll have bitten off more than they can chew. And I don't think they will. Leo isn't quick to judgment and Piper's very cautious."

"Are you sure?"

He answered her by leaning in and claiming her lips in a very thorough kiss. She wrapped herself around him. They leaned farther and farther back until his chair fell over. They didn't get up.

Later...

Cole stretched when he heard the buzzer from Leah. Willow had left about twenty minutes ago. He smiled at the memory of a very delightful mid-day break. Who needed lunch? A wonderful conclusion to the morning, although he would have to let Giles know how close they'd come to a complete disaster. He didn't know why, but he always felt like it was important he tell Giles things like this. The buzzer sounded again. "Yes, Leah?"

"Sir, Agent Nakayama is here to see you. He says it's urgent."

"Send him in."

Cole smiled at the agent who walked in. However, Tom was not smiling. He was very, very tense. "What's up, Tom?"

"Well, the bad news is we found out what was buried underneath the Halliwell's mailbox."

"And? It was?"

"Um... a Bible, sir."

"That's it? It's hardly worth burying." Burning, maybe. "Nothing else?"

"Well, there was a prayer book. You know, one of those they have in certain Christian churches. You know when they have everybody read out loud."

"Not really, never been much of a church-goer."

"Me neither. I'm Buddhist like the rest of the family. You?"

Cole nearly gagged. Religion was highly discouraged where he grew up. "Oh, i guess you'd call me a neo-pagan."

Agent Nakayama's eyes shot wide open in surprise. Wow! What a shocker, he thought.

Cole chuckled. "Of course, Tom, that's just between you and me. I wouldn't want to get the wrong sort of a reputation. You know, being a Republican and not a Bible-thumper. Anyway, so the bad news is we only got a Bible out of all that? What was the good news?"

"One of our suspects has asked to speak to someone in authority."

"Hmmm, really?" Cole's head perked up at that. They might actually be able to figure this out. "Well, let's go what he has to say. Anyone with him?"

"Agent Barnaby." Tom replied.

Cole tried to put his finger on it but couldn't place the name. He reached for his jacket and pulled it on, preceding Tom out of the office. "Leah, take messages please. I don't want to be disturbed."

"Have I met Agent Barnaby?" Cole asked as they took the elevator down to the interview room where the suspect was being held.

"No, I don't believe so. He was a transfer from the Louisville office."

"Ah, then he's probably a Bible-thumper."

"You don't like ultra-religious types, do you, Cole?" Tom asked as they exited the elevator.

"No, I don't trust anyone that insists that everyone else needs to subscribe to their interpretation of reality. Far too dangerous, whether they're Christian, Muslims,or New York Yankee fans."

Tom laughed heartily. He'd liked Cole Turner since he'd met him. He had a great sense of humor and was fair. Sometimes he didn't seem like an attorney at all. And he didn't play many games with the federal agents. Lots of attorneys did and Tom hated it. Plus, he was a National League fan. Big points in his book.

Tom pointed towards the interview room. Cole turned that way. Agent Barnaby was just where he left him, right in front of the room. "Agent Barnaby. Asst. US Attorney Turner."

Cole extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Agent. How's everything going?"

"Fine, sir. The suspect's been silent. Guess he's waiting for you." Agent Barnaby then turned to Tom. "May I have a word, sir?"

Cole looked at the two agents. "Just Bureau paperwork to go over sir. Nothing for you to be concerned about." Agent Barnaby smiled in a contrite manner.

Cole's instincts started buzzing at him. Something was up. He looked in at the suspect, all looked fine. But, there was something about Agent Barnaby that just rubbed him the wrong way. Hmmm... Something to think about. But, he dismissed it for the time being. Agent Barnaby led Tom to the other side of the hallway, and Cole let himself into the interview room.

Then everything exploded in a blast of air, glass, and fire, and then it went black for Cole.