Disclaimer: I own the name of the Coven, but I own none of its members, its villains, or their allies

Feedback: Very much on the 'must-have' list

LeoLupin: Strictly speaking, 'this rocks' is two words, but glad you like it anyway

Samyo: Maybe, maybe not…

Sean Malloy-1: I'm bearing them in mind, but I haven't seen Spawn anywhere to rent and I haven't had the chance to rent 'Sin City' yet (Although I did recently manage to read a 'Spawn' graphic novel, and, if I'd known about him at the time I started this, he'd definitely have been a member of the Coven)

Siamese: Thank you; I always feel that 'evil' is what the best cliffies should be (By the way, I tried that website, but I couldn't access anything since I'm not a member of the site)

The Coven of Reformed Supernaturals

Belthazor turned back to glare at his future self, his grip tightening around the other's neck.

"Let. Her. GO!" he roared at his other self, trying not to focus on Phoebe's slender neck, clasped in that hand that he knew so well and yet barely seemed to know at all…

"Oh, I will once you take that knife off my throat," Cole smiled casually up at Belthazor. "I think we both know that, right now, we're in a stand-off position."

"Oh, really?" Belthazor replied, trying to sound confident. "I could sever your brain before you could even blink-"

"And my last action would be to exert the last little bit of pressure onto Phoebe's neck necessary to break it," Cole replied, looking back at his other self in an almost casual manner. "You may have put me out of action long enough to kill me… but you'll have lost her as well."

"Please… Belthazor…" Phoebe gasped, looking at the red-skinned demon pleadingly. She didn't know what he was doing here, but, if he was anything like she remembered Belthazor being, right now, this might be her best chance at successfully convincing him to go through with this- potentially last- request.

"Do it…" she gasped, as Cole's fingers tightened around her neck. "Stop him… please…"

Belthazor said nothing, as he stared at the face of his human side-

No, Phoebe corrected herself, as she looked at the two faces of the man she loved.

Right now, for the first time in her memory, Cole wasn't the better side of the duo of him and Belthazor; it was the one with the red-and-black skin that was fighting for the side of good, not the one who could walk down the street without attracting attention.

For this moment in time, she truly could not count on physical appearance when looking at Cole and Belthazor.

"Look at him," Cole chuckled, as he looked over at Phoebe before looking back at Belthazor. "He knows he should do it- knows it's the only sensible option- but he can't… he won't…"

"Shut up," Belthazor growled, pressing the knife slightly closer to Cole's neck; only a few millimetres of skin and sinew stood between the metal and the spinal chord.

Cole, however, didn't seem to be bothered; he just kept on looking back at Belthazor, smiling at his past self as though they were casually discussing business over a cup of tea rather than at knifepoint.

"It would all be so easy…" Cole said, smiling back at Belthazor's growl. "So easy to lose everything we've ever loved… so easy to forsake the woman who made us feel like we were more than just a monster… so easy to end your life, and end hers at the same time…"

"YOU ARE NOT ME!" Belthazor roared at Cole, pressing the knife slightly further into the neck, drawing a speck of blood from the blade.

Cole winced slightly as the blade broke the skin, but, as soon as the immediate discomfort had passed, he was looking back at Belthazor with a grin on his face.

"Go on then; do it," he said, raising an eyebrow as he looked over at Phoebe. "But answer me this; are you what we were, or are you what we wanted to be at that time?"

Belthazor glared at Cole for a moment…

Then, sighing, he released his grip on Cole's neck, tossed the knife off to one side, and stood up.

"You win, you piece of shit," he said, under his breath. "Now let her go."

"Of course," Cole said, as he stood up, but keeping one hand around Phoebe's throat. "Just call off your friends from my troops, and we'll all be fine."

Belthazor growled as he turned around to look at the other members of the Coven, but, after a moment or two, he finally spoke.

"STOP!"

Angel smiled as he heard Belthazor's voice cry out over the din of battle. Perfect; that could only mean Belthazor had managed to gain the upper hand against his 'future' self.

Once that guy was down, maybe the other demons would be less eager to fight them…

Then Angel looked up and saw the woman whose throat was currently trapped in Cole's hand, and knew that the situation was by no means over; if that woman wasn't Phoebe, he'd be very surprised.

"Phoebe?" Blade asked from beside him, his sword still held out in front of him as he pointed it at an attacking Mohra demon.

"Given how shaken Belthazor is, I wouldn't be surprised," Angel replied, still tensed for combat if another demon tried to take them by surprise. "The others all right?"

Blade's head didn't move, but Angel could almost see his eyes as they glanced around the room under his dark glasses, trying to take in everything around them for a few seconds.

"They all seem OK," the dark-skinned, leather-clad hybrid said to his new friend. "Hellboy's trying to break some kind of giant snake in half, and Leo and Illyria're surrounded by some demons with knives for hands, but they're all still alive."

He raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Do we keep fighting? I might be able to-"

"To what?" Angel asked, looking back at Blade. "Take that guy," he indicated Cole with a jerk of his head, "out before he can break Phoebe's neck? Even if you hit him somewhere that would stop him for any length of time, he'd break her neck on reflex before he even hit the ground."

He sighed, and, shifting out of the combat stance he'd been in since the beginning, he dropped his sword and held up his hands.

"Put down your weapons!" he called out to the other members of the Coven.

"WHAT!" Hellboy roared, sounding like he was yelling at Angel through gritted teeth. "But… but…"

"Do it!" Angel said, shifting into his vampire face as he glared over at the large red demon.

Hellboy seemed about to argue, but, seeing the rage in Angel's eyes, nodded and stood up, dropping the large green snake he'd been trying to crush and tossing his Samaritan off to one side. Leo and Illyria did the same, and, after a moment's hesitation, Blade dropped his own sword.

"All right then, 'Cole'," Angel said, turning to look at the figure standing on the platform beside his red-skinned past self. "You win this round."

Cole smiled. "Thank you," he said, nodding briefly at Angel. "Nice of you to acknowledge when you've met a superior force."

"This is not over, false lord," Illyria said, glaring at Cole. "We shall get out, and then you shall pay."

"Oh, I find that unlikely," Cole smiled, as he raised his empty hand and smiled around at them all. "After all, I doubt that you'll ever find a way to escape… this."

He clicked his fingers…

And suddenly, all six members of the Coven who'd just been fighting the mass of demons, along with the still-dazed Phoebe, had all crashed onto the floor of a large stone room that could only be a prison cell, with a brunette and a redhead looking at them in confusion.

"What the…" the brunette said, looking at Angel as he staggered to his feet, Blade close behind him. "Who are you?"

"Angel," Angel said simply, before looking at the two women- evidently sisters, he decided- more closely. "Which one of you is Piper?" he added.

The brunette raised a hand. "Why do you ask?" she asked.

"Well, not only would we prefer to know what to call the people we've risked life and limb to help," Hellboy put in, as he staggered to his feet, his back to the two witches and Angel from where he was lying in the cell, "but your husband and sister are down over here and would probably appreciate some support," he added, turning around to look at the group again, Leo and Phoebe both out cold in his arms. Angel could only assume that whatever had transferred them here had been too stressful on their all-too-mortal bodies for them to handle it.

"Phoebe!" the redhead- Paige, Angel recalled her name was- cried, running over to Hellboy to take her sister.

"LEO!" Piper cried, as she also ran forward to take her husband' comatose body in her arms. Looking at the two of them as Piper examined her husband for injuries, Angel couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight of two people who, even amid the chaos that came from fighting evil, had managed to find happiness together.

If only he'd managed to have that chance with Buffy…

Then he realised that Piper was looking inquiringly at him again, and he snapped his attention back to the present; they had business to attend to right now.

"Um… who are you guys?" she asked, staring at Angel curiously. "What are you doing with Leo?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry; we're the 'Coven of Reformed Supernaturals'," Angel explained, indicating the others on the ground; he was pleased to note that Hellboy had positioned himself between Belthazor and the Halliwells for the moment. At least that little detail could be avoided until the time was right…

"The Coven of what?" Paige asked, looking at Angel curiously.

"Reformed Supernaturals, Miss… Matthews, right?" Angel asked. Paige nodded, and Angel continued. "After you were captured, Leo contacted the Elders to get help getting you out, but since this place can't be penetrated by good magic, he contacted us; an assortment of beings who are meant to evil, but became good due to outside influences."

He paused for a moment, and then pointed over at the still-unconscious Constantine, currently slumped over the equally out-of-it Spike. "Well, except for him; he's just a human who can see demons where others can't, but since he nearly went to Hell after he tried to kill himself, he still counted as dark enough to get through the barrier."

"Ah…" Paige said, nodding in understanding as she looked at Angel. "So, what went wrong? I mean, I'm guessing that getting chucked in a cell wasn't part of the plan?"

Angel shook his head. "No, it wasn't; three of us apparently got taken down by Cole because they didn't know to be looking for him, and the rest of us…"

He indicated Phoebe, still slumped in her sister's arms. "We couldn't continue without Phoebe getting killed; we had to stop the fight."

"Ah," Piper said, looking over at Phoebe in understanding.

Then a thought seemed to occur to her, and she looked back at Angel.

"How'd you get in here?" she asked. "I thought this place could only be reached by shimmering?"

Angel looked over at Hellboy inquiringly, and, after the two of them had exchanged nods, Hellboy coughed slightly to draw attention to himself as he took up the 'story'.

"Well, we had some help," he said, as he moved to step aside. "I think you know him…."

Piper froze at the sight in front of her and her sisters now.

"What the… Belthazor!" she said, looking around at the rest of the Coven in shock. "What… what's he doing here? He's dead!"

"The Elders summoned him from the past, as far as we've been able to gather," Angel explained, looking over at the two of them as Leo and Phoebe finally began to regain consciousness. "Trust me, he's dependable; he tackled his future self while we tried to take down his army. He won't betray you."

"Oh, well, no offence, but he already did once!" Paige said, looking over at Angel in anger. "How do we know he won't do it again!"

"He won't…" Phoebe gasped, as she leant up, looking around at her sisters as she spoke. Piper and Paige moved as though to help her, but she waved them back as she looked at Paige, the better to get her point across. "He had the perfect chance to immobilise… Cole… and he didn't take it because it would put me in danger."

She stood up, and looked over at Piper as she finished. "He's not the Source, Piper. We can rely on him."

Piper was about to say something, but stopped when she saw Phoebe's eyes.

They were so… sincere.

She truly believed what she was saying.

How could Piper pay her back with disbelief.

She nodded. "OK," she said, shooting a brief look at Paige to make it clear that- in this case- what she said went. "We'll trust him."

She sighed as she glanced around at their surroundings. "Not that it'll make much difference; we're still trapped."

"Oh, I don't think that'll be much of an issue once we're all up," Blade said, smiling slightly as he glanced around the room at the others. "After all, we've all made names for ourselves back home; the cell hasn't been built that can hold all of us…"

"Quite," Angel said, as he looked around at the other Coven members. "Let's get down to business; we've got to get out of here before Cole starts something that we can't stop."