Chapter 58: Sleuthing With the Enemy

Buffy, Prue and Piper are making a potion. There are ingredients everywhere.

Piper puts something in a pot and a flame shoots up. "Okay, even if this works, we still have to find Belthazor."

Prue nods, "Well, I have an idea how to do that but first things first. Cockles."

"Cockles?" Buffy asks.

Prue nods, "They're over by the crickets."

"And what exactly are they?" Buffy asks.

"Small leaping insects that chirp." Prue says.

Buffy shakes her head, "That's funny. I meant the cockle shells, not the crickets."

"I'm not really sure but as long as they help vanquish Belthazor that's all I really care about." Prue says.

"It would be nice to get back to our lives such as they were." Piper says.

"Pigs feet." Prue says.

"Yecchh." Piper says.

"Yecchh?" Buffy and Prue says.

Piper nods, "Yecchh."

Prue shakes her head, "So you can slice up a chunk of demon flesh but you can't touch pigs foot."

"I'm a vegetarian." Piper says.

"Since when?" Buffy asks.

"Since now." Piper says.

Prue shakes her head, "Now is not the time to get squeamish, okay. This recipe is very important. We have to follow it to a T." Prue puts a pigs foot in the pot and another flame shoots up. "Ooh!"

"Poor piggy." Piper says.

Buffy looks over the recipe, "Everything's in there, we just need to get the slice of Belthazor flesh and we're good to go. Let's test it. Pheebs?"

"Something tells me she's not in a vanquishing mood." Piper says.

"Why not?" Prue asks.

"She's worried about Cole. She hasn't heard from him in over a week." Buffy says.

"And that's a bad thing?" Prue asks.

"Prue." Buffy and Piper says.

Prue sighs, "You know what? I don't like him and I don't trust him. And it has nothing to do with him being a greasy lawyer either."

Phoebe walks in. "Greasy what?"

"Uh, greasy layer. There's a greasy layer on this potion." Piper says.

Prue nods, "Too much mandrake."

"Okay, uh, what do you say we do this incantation." Buffy says.

Phoebe nods, "Anything to get rid of Belthazor before Cole gets back. And he is coming back."

"Okay." Piper says.

"Spirits of air, forests and sea, set us of this demon free; beasts of hoof and beasts of shell, drive this evil back to hell." Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Buffy chant.

The potion bubbles.

"Uh-oh, didn't work." Phoebe says.

Buffy shakes her head, "No, you forgot the Belthazor flesh."

"Oh yes." Piper says.

Phoebe shakes her head, "How can we forget the Belthazor flesh?"

Piper gets the flesh out of the fridge.

"Such a slacker." Prue says.

"Give me a second, lady. All right, ready?" Piper puts the flesh in the pot and it explodes. Piper falls to the ground.

"Piper!?" Buffy says concerned.

They help her up.

"Are you all right?" Prue asks.

Piper nods, "Attack of the killer pigs feet. Remind me to step back next time."

Some time later Prue comes down the stairs. Buffy is watching TV in the living room. Phoebe walks into the foyer.

"Hey." Prue says.

"I'll be back." Phoebe says.

"Um, where you going?" Prue asks.

Phoebe smiles, "I am going to school," they go into the living room, "and then I'm going to Cole's." She puts some books in her bag.

Prue nods, "Okay, aren't you forgetting a little something? Like vanquishing Belthazor?"

"Wait, I thought you had to write a spell to summon him first." Phoebe says.

Buffy nods, "Yes, and it's done. I used the one that we called Melinda from the past with, just re-wrote it a little bit."

"Really? Think it'll work?" Phoebe says.

Buffy nods, "Well, yeah, I mean, it should. It's magic calling magic. Although in this case dark magic."

"Phoebe, why are you going to Cole's again? I mean, what do you really expect to find?" Prue asks.

"Mmm, actually, I was gonna go to his office. And how do you know I've already been to Cole's?" Phoebe says.

Prue nods, "Well, you got a parking ticket there yesterday when you borrowed my car."

"Oops, sorry, I'll pay for it." Phoebe says.

Buffy shakes her head listening to two of her cousins bicker.

"Phoebe, that's not the point. Look, please, don't take this out on me, all right. I'm not the bad guy." Prue says.

Phoebe nods, "I know, I would just like some understanding, you know, some support here."

Buffy shakes her head, "Pheebs forget it when it comes to Cole, Prue can't. You have mine though."

Prue nods, "Look, I can't support you when I think you're just setting yourself up to get hurt. I have to be honest with you, we have to be honest with each other. That's the promise we made when Belthazor tried to split us apart, remember?"

Phoebe sighs, "Yeah, it just doesn't help that you never really liked Cole from the beginning."

Prue nods, "Yeah, well, I mean, you never really like any of my boyfriends either."

"That's very true." Phoebe says.

"I'm sorry, all right. This is your call and not mine." Prue says.

Buffy smiles, "Wow, Prue. I never thought I would hear you say that to Phoebe."

Piper walks in.

Phoebe smiles, "Thank you."

"Okay, are we gonna do this or what?" Piper asks.

Prue nods, "You, me and Buffy are. Phoebe's not."

"Are you sure?" Phoebe asks.

Prue nods. "Yeah, yeah, go to Cole's. It's fine. Uh, we don't need the power of three to vanquish, just the potion."

"Okay, well, why don't you take this in case." Piper says and she hands Phoebe the potion.

"Okay, just you guys no more whispering, okay. It's hard enough for me to know that Cole's keeping secrets from me. I can't take it from you too." Phoebe says.

Buffy smiles, "We're trying, Pheebs."

Phoebe nods and leaves.

Prue, Buffy and Piper go in the dining room and tip over the table onto its side.

"This is gonna be messy." Piper says.

Prue nods, "That's why we Scotchguard." She hands Buffy and Piper the potion. "You two ready?"

Buffy nods, "Ready to go. The quicker we get this done the quicker I can take my written drivers test." Prue gives Buffy a look. "You promised." Prue sighs and nods.

Piper nods, "I'm ready as I'll ever be."

"All right." Prue says.

They crouch down behind the table.

"Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light, be he far or be he near, bring us the demon Belthazor here." Prue, Buffy and Piper chant.

It gets windy.

"It's working." Piper says.

"All right, you gusy ready?" Prue asks.

Piper nods, "Uh-huh."

"Ready." Buffy says

"On three." Prue says.

"1, 2, 3." Prue, Piper and Buffy says together.

Krell appears and Buffy, Prue and Piper throw the potion at him.

"There's no boom. Why is there no boom?" Piper says.

Prue shakes her head, "I don't know."

"I don't either." Buffy says.

"Stupid witches." Krell says.

"He's not..." Prue says as Krell tries to zap them and puts a huge hole in the table. "Ooh, you know what? That is an antique!" She uses her power and he flies towards the grandfather clock.

Piper freezes him in mid-air. "Not the clock! We can't afford to keep fixing that thing." They walk over to him. "Unless Belthazor can morph, that is definitely not him."

Buffy nods, "All right, that doesn't make sense. How did we get the wrong demon? Hey, do you think that you could just unfreeze his head? That way we could ask."

"His head?" Piper asks.

"Yeah, his head." Buffy says.

"Why not?" Piper says and unfreezes his head. "That's different."

Prue smiles, "That's cool."

They giggle.

"What did you do to me?" Krell says.

Prue nods, "Uh, hi, you know what? You're sort of frozen in mid-air therefore we'll be asking the questions, okay?" Buffy powers up a fireball and tosses it back and forth between her hands for emphasis. "Or I might let my cousin here use you for target practice. Who are you?"

"Someone who's gonna butcher you if you don't unfreeze me right now." Krell says.

"Okay." Piper says and unfreezes him and he crashes into the grandfather clock. Buffy and Prue give her a look. "What? It was worth it."

They go over to him and Prue puts her foot on his chest. "All right, you start talking or we start the bonus round."

"I am Krell, a Zotar." Krell says.

Buffy shakes her head, "Hi, I'm Buffy, a Capricorn. This is Prue, a Scorpio and Piper, a Gemini. Where's Belthazor?"

Krell pushes Prue's leg off his chest and Prue and Piper back away as Buffy moves between them and Krell, she still has the fireball powered up. Krell stands up. "Wait, don't. I won't attack if you don't. I'm a bounty hunter. I track fugitive demons and it looks like we're after the same one. I should've known better than to underestimate him. I thought that because Belthazor couldn't shimmer, his other powers were useless as well."

"So you don't have the power to vanquish him?" Piper asks

Krell shakes his head, "Obviously not. Otherwise I wouldn't have needed to intercept your little calling card, now would I?"

"Hey, you know what? How about next time Piper can just freeze your head and then maybe I could kick you in the—" Buffy says.

"Buffy!" Prue says before turning back to Krell. "Alright, uh, so Belthazor was sent by the triad to kill us. How do we know that you weren't sent by them too?"

"You're joking, right? I don't believe this. You really don't know? You're Whitelighter must really be sleeping on the job." Krell says.

Piper frowns, "Hey, now wait a minute, pal."

"Piper. What don't we know?" Prue says.

"Belthazor killed the triad. That's why he's on the run, that's why I'm here." Krell says.

"Why would he do that?" Buffy asks.

"Probably because they were going to kill him. For failing to kill you. Ironically his inability to shimmer saved him from you killing him." Krell says.

Prue nods, "So instead we got you."

Krell nods, "Believe me, just the thought of working with you turns my stomachs."

"Stomachs?" Piper asks.

"But right now I'm more interested in killing Belthazor than witches or the Slayer." Krell says.

"Hm." Buffy says.

"Like it or not, we need each other. You can't find him without me, I can't vanquish him without your potion." Krell says.

"So then you know where he is?" Prue says.

Piper shakes her head, "Prue, you can't be seriously considering this."

"I have to agree with Piper," Buffy says.

"Answer the question." Prue says.

Krell nods, "I can track his scent, his blood, when he's in his demonic form not his human one. Fortunately, he can't maintain his human self for long, especially wounded. It drains him."

"Uh, hi, could you come here, over here, please?" Piper says and Prue and Buffy goes over to Piper. "We've tried working with demons before, it was a bad idea then. And it's definitely a bad idea now."

Prue looks to Krell, "We'll let you know."

"No, you'll let me know now. Think fast. Belthazor won't stop trying to kill you. Only the heads of the Charmed Ones will convince the source to spare him." Krell says and he disappears

"Leo!" Piper, Prue and Buffy says.

Moments later they along with Leo are in the attic.

"I don't understand. How can you not know the triad is dead? Don't you think that's kind of important? Especially since, oh, I don't know. They've been trying to kill us for the past two years." Buffy says.

Leo sighs, "They're heard rumors, talk, nothing substantiated."

"Well, I guess you can substantiate it now can't you? Geez, have you been sleeping on the job or what?" Piper says.

"So, Leo, don't mind her, she's just a little cranky." Prue says.

"Well, you know what? I get that way when demons are trying to kill us." Piper says.

Prue sighs, "Piper, I really don't think that Krell is trying to kill us otherwise he probably would've tried by now."

"Oh, yeah? Tell that to the dining room table." Buffy says.

"Is there anything in there on Zotars?" Leo asks.

Prue nods, "Yeah, everything that he said about them which makes me think that everything else he has said might be true too."

Buffy nods, "Including the part about how he likes to kill witches?"

"Including the part about all of us working together." Prue says.

"Are you willing to bet our lives on it?" Piper asks.

Prue shakes her head, "Are you two willing not to? Look, Buffy, Piper, if we do nothing and Belthazor somehow gets all of his powers back then we are going to be looking back over our shoulders. Again. Personally I'm tired of that."

Piper nods, "I know, I know, okay. I-I know you think she's right and…"

"If you don't vanquish him now you may not get another chance." Leo says.

Moments later they are in the conservatory as Prue, Buffy and Piper recite the Belthazor summoning spell, "Magic forces black and white, reaching out through space and light, be he far or be he near, bring us the demon Belthazor here."

Krell appears in the foyer.

Phoebe walks in the house and sees him. "Demon!" She runs over to him.

"Phoebe, no, no, no, Phoebe!" Piper says.

Phoebe jumps up, hangs onto a beam, and kicks Krell in the head. "What-what is going on? Who is that?"

Buffy, Prue, Piper and Leo walk into the foyer.

"He is a demonic bounty hunter who is here to help us find Belthazor." Prue says.

"Why don't you go sniff something while we fill her in." Buffy says.

Krell shakes his head, "There's no time. I just picked up Belthazor's scent again."

Prue nods, "Alright, gives us a minute." She looks to Phoebe. "Come here. All right, listen, here's the deal. Belthazor killed the triad, now the source wants him dead. Krell is trying to suck up to the source so he wants to kill Belthazor."

Piper nods, "Belthazor wants to kill us so the source won't kill him."

"And as much as I hate to say it if we work with Krell we can vanquish Belthazor before he kills us." Buffy says.

"Works for me. Leo, I have to talk to you for a minute." Phoebe says.

Krell shakes his head, "How do you witches ever get anything done? If we're working together we need to move now."

Prue nods, "All right, we're ready."

"Do you have the potion?" Krell asks.

"Do you have the scent?" Piper asks.

Krell nods, "I said I did didn't I? You three come with me. The others should go to the old cemetery."

"Wait, split up? Why?" Leo says.

"Because he might be hiding there, that's why. Evil frequent cemeteries. Makes it difficult for me to track a demon's scent there. Belthazor knows that." Krell says.

Phoebe nods "Okay, so why don't Leo and I go to the cemetery and you guys go with him."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asks.

Phoebe nods, "Positive."

Prue nods, "Alright, let's go, we're ready. Oh, hey, I almost forgot to ask. Did you find out anything about Cole?"

"Uh, no, nothing at all about Cole." Phoebe says.

Later in an alley Krell shimmers in as Buffy flames in with Piper and Prue.

"I can smell his blood, he's close." Krell says.

"Where?" Prue asks.

"Get your potions." Krell says.

Prue shakes her head, "You know, it's too bad that he's such a bad guy 'cause he could really come in handy."

"Don't push it." Buffy says.

They walk down the alley. Krell removes some boxes where a homeless person is sleeping. "Vanquish him."

"Hey, what's going on? Who are you?" Homeless man asks.

"It's a trick. He's in his human form. Throw the potion." Krell says.

Buffy looks at Krell, "Hold your horses and think for a moment. Don't you think he would've picked a better human? Oh, no offense, honey.

"Oh, none taken." Homeless Man says.

Krell snatches the potion off of Piper.

"Hey, easy!" Piper says as Krell throws the potion at the homeless man. "And you call yourself a Zotar."

Krell picks up Cole's coat and smells it. "Where did you get this coat?"

"I didn't do anything." Homeless man says.

Krell picks up the guy and pushes him against a fence. "Tell me."

"I just found it." Homeless man says, scared.

Prue nods, "Leave him alone, he doesn't know anything."

"Yeah." Homeless Man says.

Krell starts zapping him and Prue trips him to stop him.

"Thanks, lady." Homeless Man says.

"Touch me again, witch, and I'll kill you." Krell says.

"And then I'll kill you," Buffy says. "There was no reason to hurt that man."

"I'm a demon, it's my nature to hurt people." Krell says.

"Yeah, and it's in our nature to protect them." Prue says.

Krell shakes his head, "He's a pathetic wretch. His life means nothing. If you'd let me torture him we'd know where he found the coat."

"Whatever it takes." Buffy says.

Krell nods, "That's right."

"Well, from here on out, it's gonna take doing this our way." Prue says.

Krell nods, "Ha, then we will fail. Because your morality cripples you. It blinds you from doing what must be done."

Prue nods, "There are better ways of getting answers out of people, Krell." She picks up the coat. "Think you can get a premonition?"

"I can try. Just in case though we should wait till were with Phoebe. Two are better than one." Buffy says.

Piper nods, "Well, at least we know Belthazor has very expensive taste." Prue looks at the coat. "What? What is it?"

"How long ago did the triad send Belthazor?" Prue asks.

"Two months ago. Why?" Krell says.

Prue nods, "Does this look familiar to you?"

"I don't know. Why?" Piper says.

"Vaguely. Doesn't Cole have one just like it?" Buffy says.

Prue nods, "That was my thinking, too."

"Cole? You think Cole is..." Piper says.

"Belthazor's human form." Prue says.

In Cole's apartment building Buffy, Prue, Piper and Krell walk inside the building.

"What are we gonna do?" Piper asks.

"We're gonna vanquish him." Prue says.

"We're gonna vanquish Phoebe's boyfriend? That's gonna cause some problems." Buffy says.

"If you hesitate he'll kill us all." Krell says.

"Excuse me, we're having a private conversation over here." Piper says.

Prue nods, "You know, I can not believe I let him out of that demon trap when I caught him. What was I thinking?"

"Prue, we don't know anything for sure yet." Piper says as Leo orbs in. "Leo, what are you doing here?"

"I didn't wanna get in between you guys but I didn't know what to do." Leo says.

"About what?" Buffy asks.

"I think Cole is..." Leo says.

Prue nods, "Belthazor's human form. Yeah, that's why we're here."

"How did you know?" Leo asks.

"Where's Phoebe?" Piper asks.

"She's upstairs with Cole, apartment seven." Leo says.

Krell frowns, "Tell me you didn't heal him."

"Well, not completely." Leo says.

"You idiot." Krell says.

"Leo!" Piper and Buffy says.

Leo sighs, "Phoebe begged me. I didn't know what to do."

"You stay here, we'll fix it." Piper says.

They hurry upstairs and burst in to Cole's apartment.

"Krell." Cole says as he changes into Belthazor. Phoebe looks shocked. A knife appears in his hand and he grabs Phoebe. Krell tries to zap Belthazor but Prue pushes his hand out of the way.

"No!" Prue says.

Belthazor shimmers out of the room taking Phoebe with him.

"Phoebe." Buffy and Piper says.

Krell frowns, "You let Belthazor escape."

Prue nods, "You almost killed our sister."

"Your sister is dead anyway. He only needed her to get away." Krell says.

"I don't think Cole will hurt Phoebe." Buffy says.

Prue nods, "No, but maybe Belthazor would."

"Then why hasn't he? He's had so many chances." Piper says.

"He just used her until he could get all four of you. The Charmed Ones and the Charmed Slayer. Why he couldn't follow through I'll never understand." Krell says.

"Maybe he fell in love." Buffy says.

Prue nods, "Yeah, or maybe that was just a trick. I mean, demons will do whatever it takes, remember?"

"Glad to see I've had a positive influence on you. I can save your sister if it's not too late." Krell says.

"Why would you want to?" Prue says.

Krell shakes his head, "I wouldn't. But I'll do it if it's the only was to kill Belthazor. Give me the potion. I can find him and get to him faster alone."

"Nice try. Forget it." Buffy says.

"You already said that you can't track him if he can shimmer." Piper says.

Krell nods, "But he can't shimmer well. He needs time to recharge. Your Whitelighter only healed his human half."

"I'm sorry, his human half?" Piper says.

Krell nods, "That's why the triad sent him. He understands you. He can blend in. A full-blooded demon could never have gotten so close. Give me the potion."

"If you hurt her, we'll track you down." Prue says and she hands Krell the potion. He disappears.

"Do you really trust him?" Buffy asks.

"No. Buffy we need a flame express." Prue says.

Buffy nods, "Where are we going?"

"Oh, to where demons hide." Prue says.

Buffy flames out with Prue and Piper and flames in to a cemetery. They hear Phoebe scream.

"Phoebe?" Prue asks.

They hear the sound of something or someone being vanquished.

"Phoebe." Buffy says.

"There." Prue says.

They run towards the mausoleum.

"Phoebe!" Piper says.

Buffy, Prue and Piper run in to the Mausoleum.

"Pheebs?" Prue asks.

"Phoebe, thank goddess you're okay." Buffy says.

They see a burning pile.

"He killed Krell." Phoebe says.

Prue nods, "And you did what you had to do." She hugs Phoebe.

"I know." Phoebe says.

Later back at the Manor Phoebe is lying on the couch holding Cole's dagger. Buffy, Prue and Piper walk in. Piper's holding a tray of food.

"We brought you some comfort food." Piper says.

Phoebe shakes her head, "Thanks, I'm not really that hungry."

"You wanna talk?" Buffy asks.

Phoebe sighs, "I don't know what there is to talk about. You were right as usual, Prue."

Prue shakes her head, "I didn't wanna be right."

Phoebe nods, "I know. Believe me, Prue, you have nothing to apologise for. But I do. What I did was..."

Piper nods, "Phoebe, he fooled us all, not just you."

"That's not what I mean. I don't know, I just, I feel so... ashamed." Phoebe says.

Buffy smiles, "You can't be so hard on yourself."

Prue nods, "You didn't do anything wrong, you know."

"Didn't I?" Phoebe asks.

"Well, the important thing is that it's over. We can get on with our lives now." Prue says.

Buffy nods, "At least until the next Belthazor attacks. We'll leave you alone."

"Let us know if you need anything." Prue says.

"Thanks." Pheobe says.

Prue, Buffy and Piper walk out of the room.