Phoebe and Leo orbed into Cole's apartment in time to see the handsome man stumble towards his bathroom with one goal in mind, to throw up anything that managed to creep into the deepest crevices in his stomach.
Piper pursed her lips and shrugged at the two, "The man's got it bad."
Leo placed the grocery bag on the couch and shook his blonde head slowly, glancing around the small apartment deep in thought. Piper turned to him and asked, "What's on your mind, Leo?"
"We need to take Cole to the Manor. This isn't going to work here, you don't have your equipment and this place is not comfortable at all."
"No offense, Leo, but your comfort comes second to Cole getting better." Phoebe quipped as she made her way down the narrow hall to see if Cole was all right.
"What the hell was that?" Piper hissed at Leo.
Leo shrugged, the comment having no effect on his happy-go-lucky nature. "She's upset, I understand."
"Do you ever get mad?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, I'm just not easily provoked is all," Leo smiled.
Cole finally emerged from the bathroom several minutes' later, water dripping off his stubble chin as he ran a hand through his dark, damp hair once again. He yawned and shuffled slowly to the awaiting group.
"We're going back to the Manor, Cole. With you." Explained Leo; motioning to the suitcase he packed for the other man.
"You packed my bag?" Cole asked perplexed as he plopped himself down onto the couch exhaustedly.
"That doesn't matter, let's go." Phoebe stated, grabbing Cole's hand and lugging his built frame up to his unsteady feet. Cole held onto Phoebe tightly as Leo orbed the small group, the suitcase and the small bag of groceries out.
"Why are you bringing him here?"
"Because he's really, really sick and needs our help, didn't you want to help earlier?"
"Didn't you? Besides don't we want him really, really sick?"
"We do, Phoebe doesn't."
"What is the matter with you girls?" Leo asked shocked.
"Excuse me?" Piper asked, both Paige and her looking at Leo.
"Cole is dying, he needs our help. That's the end of it." Piper continued.
"No, there is no end to it. Cole and Phoebe love each other, Cole isn't going away no matter how much you guys want him too." Leo explained, becoming agitated.
"That's the anger I was looking for!" Piper claimed, finger pointed in the air.
"Leo, we can vanquish him so that he never comes back, then we're done with him." Paige interrupted, ignoring her sister's outburst.
"What about Phoebe? Did you forget about her?" he asked, arms crossing in front of his chest as he argued with the sisters in the living room area.
"She'll learn to deal with it like she has before…" murmured Paige.
"That's just a terrible attitude Paige. Both of you." Leo glared.
"Leo's actually right Paige…I should know better. I was there through both good and bad times with Cole, we all were. You've hated Cole since the moment you moved in, you weren't here to see Cole before everything went to hell, literally."
"Fine, gang up on me if you want…" Paige muttered, throwing her hands up and storming out of the living room.
"Thank you, Piper." Leo whispered, finally smiling at his wife.
Meanwhile, in Phoebe's bedroom, Cole lie in her bed shivering fiercely, sweat pouring from all over his body. Phoebe watched him helplessly as she thought hard about how to resolve this nasty issue.
"How is he?" a voice called out from the doorway.
Phoebe jumped and looked up quickly to see Paige leaning in her doorway once again. Phoebe shook her head and shrugged, "Worse, I'm waiting for the unbearable pain to strike."
Paige cocked her head to the side and watched Cole shake violently, grasping the thin sheet that covered his body so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Paige sighed and shuffled over to Phoebe, slinging her arm casually over her older sister's shoulders.
"What can I do?" Paige asked softly.
"I don't know…I really don't. I can't lose Cole again, Paige. I can't." Phoebe's voice cracked as she turned her head away Cole's quaking body.
As Phoebe and Paige consoled one another, Cole's mind was playing yet another long forgotten memory in his head as he continued shaking and shuddering roughly underneath the thin sheet on Phoebe's bed.
"Young Belthazor, are you ready for your next task?"
"Always, Raynor, I serve you as vigorously as I do the Source."
"Always such a charmer, Belthazor, I like it." Raynor laughed, placing a hand on the young man's broad shoulders.
"What is my task, sir?" Belthazor in his human form asked, the handsome visage unwavering when many demons towering over six feet shimmered in front of the two men. The demons spread about the large cave, not paying any mind to the two as they took their positions. They all resembled Belthazor, however they all had different tribal markings and although their skin was red, it varied in shade.
"To stay alive." Raynor finally answered, shimmering out of the cave just as the demons all threw large energy balls at Cole, the young man ducking just in time.
Cole rolled on the dust caked ground, chucking two energy balls in unison at the nearest demon, smiling as he burst into flames with a bellowing howl. The smile faded when he was suddenly thrown backwards from the impact of another energy ball. He groaned and stood up, shook off the pain and charged forward in order to kill another demon with a large blue ball.
Not twenty minutes later Raynor shimmered back into the dimly lit cave in time to see the young Belthazor, still in human form, kill off the last demon. Cole grinned, wincing immediately from the effort as he made his way over to his mentor slowly, all his deep gashes and wounds slowly but surely healing themselves.
"How do you feel?" Raynor asked, smirking.
"Like hell, sir."
"Perfect."
Cole's eyes flew open, and he looked about wildly, his blue eyes darting about as he searched for his only true comfort. He sighed when his eyes landed on Phoebe and Paige talking to each other near the window. He reached a trembling hand up to scratch at his chin, but the effort alone caused him to heave a sigh of tiredness and throw his arm back down to his side.
"Are you alright, dude?" a red headed Paige asked him, standing by his side.
"I'm fine," he muttered, turning his head away from the flaming hair in order to catch a glimpse of Phoebe leaving the bedroom, "Phoebe?"
"She saw you were awake so she's going to get some food for you, she'll be back." Assured Paige as she patted his trembling hand good-naturedly.
Cole nodded slowly, wearily watching Paige as she returned to her seat near the window. Cole squeezed his eyes shut, willing the beginnings of the ebbing pain to go away. He could feel it coming, like ice cold fingers trailing along his backside until they reached their destination…ready to pull at every fiber of his being and rip him to shreds, begging to hear Cole scream in twisted agony.
Paige watched Cole move restlessly, suddenly feeling pretty guilty when she realized Piper was right. She was only here to see Cole through the bad; she was never there through most of the good. Paige pursed her lips and shook her head, starting to feel pity towards the former demon. Suddenly she remembered her conversation with Phoebe and Paige thought she knew one way to help Cole out.
"Hey Cole, can I talk to you for a sec?" Paige asked, hesitantly.
Cole shrugged, hoping Paige didn't catch his wince. He gazed at her with his piercing blue eyes, his face pale, covered in a thin sheen of sweat and stubble covered his strong jaw whereas his dark hair was mussed up and sticking every which way…Paige couldn't believe that Phoebe's ex husband was actually pretty attractive.
"I wanted to tell you, you're not a demon."
"Excuse me?"
"You're not a demon. You're a human, a man with special powers. Granted those powers are evil, but as a wise sister once put it, 'It's not the powers you have that make you good or evil, it's how you use those powers.'"
Cole sat up further in the bed and eyed Paige wearily once again, "Are you…forgiving me?"
Paige shrugged and nodded, "I think I am."
Cole nodded slowly, a small smile forming on his handsome pallor as he whispered, "Thank you."
"Ookay! I have eggs, and orange juice!" Phoebe exclaimed as she barged in carrying a tray.
Cole felt another small smile tug at his lips as he leant forwards carefully and kissed Phoebe on the mouth. He leaned back slowly, his entire body aching with every move he made but he didn't want the others to see it. He thanked Phoebe for the food and proceeded to pick at it slowly.
"So, how are feeling, Cole?" Phoebe asked, sidling next to him on the bed, allowing him to place his arm around her shoulder and tug her petite body closer to his built frame as he continued to slowly eat his breakfast food.
"A bit better," he lied; the pain in his body flaring as if to say 'how dare you?'
"That's good sweetheart." She murmured, snuggling closer to his chest, smiling when Cole placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"Phoebe can I talk to you and Piper for a minute? I think I have an idea." Paige said suddenly, forgotten in the room as she watched the two interact.
"Sure." Phoebe said, hopping off the bed after placing another quick kiss on Cole's cheek. As soon as the girls disappeared Cole threw his head back against the headboard and clutched his chest, the pain seemingly piercing his heart as he let out a soft wounded moan of agony.
"What is it? What did you do? Spill it!" Piper exclaimed, sure that Paige had done something wrong again.
"I, uh, didn't do anything Piper. Put your hands down and listen to me, I think I know how to help Cole." Paige explained to the sisters and Leo in the living room.
"Well what?" Phoebe pressed.
"We let him die." She said simply.
"What! Are you insane?" screeched Phoebe and Piper as well, causing Paige to flinch and cover her ears. Leo cocked his head to the side and thought long and hard about the idea suddenly interrupting the squabble with a, "She's right, girls."
They all stopped and stared at him like deer in headlights.
"Excuse me? You want me to let Cole die, in order to satisfy your hatred against him? How the hell is that right?" Phoebe growled.
"Well, if I'm on the right track as Paige here…Cole is dying because the powers are leaving him, powers that he isn't meant to have. When he dies, we can bring him back, but he'll be a mortal without his powers."
"In order to save him, we need to let him die." Paige concluded.
"But isn't his death going to be an excruciating one? He's going to be in a lot of pain, Leo. Besides, how will we bring him back?" Phoebe demanded, taken aback at the idea of letting her love die so painfully.
"If he goes to the Wasteland we can get the Grimoire and resurrect him." Paige quipped, sitting on the arm of the couch.
"That's if he goes there." Piper added.
"Exactly, and I don't know anything about the Grimoire, even if I touched it a few times it doesn't mean I know anything about it. Can't we just right a spell or something? I'm more comfortable with my spells than an evil Book of Shadows."
"I think it will work if you write a spell, hopefully. About the Wasteland thing, I don't know how this is going to work." Paige slapped herself against the head and cursed.
"Look, I know he's going to the Wasteland for a fact. Cole was a powerless human when the Source…possessed him. When we vanquished the Source, Cole was completely human again in the Wasteland. He gathered all of his current powers when he was there, meaning he will be losing all of those powers making him human again right before he dies…when he dies he should go back to the Wasteland because he has a soul." Explained Leo, eyebrows knitted together as he thought.
"But wouldn't that make him a mortal with a soul, meaning he either goes to Heaven or Hell?" Paige asked.
"No, because although we vanquished his demon half, Belthazor, it doesn't negate the fact that he was still born half demon." Leo continued, starting to pace.
"Wow, you really know your stuff, don't you?" Piper asked, impressed.
"I try," he stated, giving Piper a boyish, white-toothed smile as he stopped his irate pacing amongst them in the living room.
"I guess I'll tell him," Phoebe muttered, starting to go up the stairs slowly.
Cole had fallen back into a fitful sleep; trying to fight of another dream demanding to edge it's way to be seen by him. Finally the memory won out and started to play itself in his mind, Cole being oblivious to the fact that Phoebe was watching him twitch and jump, his face contorted into one of pain since his mask was no longer on.
"Welcome, Brother Belthazor."
"Tarkin, how nice to see you again." Cole greeted his new Brother with a firm handshake and slight nod of the head, noting that everyone was in their human forms as he was. He surveyed the cave, noticing all of the other new members of the Brotherhood of the Thorn.
"Belthazor, come meet the rest of you Brothers." Claimed Raynor, holding a hand towards the demon.
"So, Raynor, do I get to meet the Source himself anytime soon?" asked Cole as he continued to meet with his new Brothers.
"You are an eager one, aren't you?" Raynor chuckled as he stood beside the younger, tall man.
"I live to serve, sir." Cole said, tossing a grin towards Raynor.
"The Source has big plans for you, Belthazor, big plans. He will be coming in to brief you and the other new Brothers shortly, then he has some other matters to tend too." Raynor whispered to Belthazor.
"And I will be…?"
"Joining him, after the briefing."
"Excellent. How's everything above? I hear that we succeeded on crashing the stock market."
"Did you, now? No matter, we did, the humans call it 'The Great Depression.'" Raynor and Cole chuckled, their laughter echoing in the large cave as the dream faded andCole sat up quickly, heaving for a breath as pain racked his entire body.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked, immediately by Cole's side.
Cole tried to nod and tell her everything was fine, but his lungs were burning, his heart was pounding, his skin felt like it was on fire, and his head felt like someone placed a grenade in it and blew the crap out of it.
"Cole, just listen okay? We have a plan that has a good chance of working, but it's not very good for you…I mean it is, but…we have to let you die."
Cole looked at her perplexed, knitting his dark eyebrows together as he struggled to catch his breath. Phoebe sighed and crawled into bed with him as she started to explain everything.
"The dreams…will they go… away after I'm… back?" Cole asked, his breath coming out in short gasps, after Phoebe explained the situation.
"Dreams?" Phoebe asked, concern blasting from her deep, chocolate brown eyes.
"The dreams…the nightmares…the memories…" it suddenly dawned on him and he shook his head, "I think my whole life…is flashing before my eyes…in my dreams, Phoebe…" he explained hoarsely.
"Oh, Cole…" she murmured, holding Cole tightly as tears slid down both of their faces and dampened the sheets.
TBC...
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