A/N: Well, it's the sixth chapter, and only three reviews. Not that I'm complaining, I'm just surprised, considering how many people asked me to write a sequel. Then again, this one does have a pretty different mood to it than the first. But I'm not the kind of person to stop writing over something like that. YOU CAN'T SILENCE ME!!

Chapter 6: Bad Blood

"Gwen, are you alright?" Cody helped the other witch to her feet hastily.

"I'm fine. But—Look out!" The two of them quickly dived out of the way of Gabriel's fist. The demon's lunge was stopped short by a bolt of purple lightning from Max's athame, but this only served to direct his anger at her now. In a charge of blind rage he swung his clawed hand at her, clipping the side of her face. She flew off her feet across the alley to collide with a metal dumpster. She landed in a heap. Gabriel ducked just in time to avoid being struck in the face by Trevor's boot. He retaliated quickly, grabbing Trevor by the wrist and twisting his arm behind him. Thankfully, Cody's telekinesis was enough to throw the mad demon off of him.

Trevor sidestepped with grace. "Thanks for that."

"Can you distract him at all?"

"Afraid not. His mind is blocking my glamours, and he's dodging all my darts."

A fireball whizzed past them, aimed for Gabriel as he moved for Gwen again. His sixth sense allowed him to dodge it, but barely. He looked towards the mouth of the alley with his furious black eyes. Zack stood at the entrance with hand raised, and Nicole at his side. Gabriel's confusion at Nicole's presence was enough of a distraction. Cody flung his hand, throwing the demon into the brick wall with as much strength as he could muster.

Nicole's blue eyes widened in horror at watching her guardian thrown with such force. But then her expression hardened into anger. Blue flames erupted in her palms as she thrust them into Zack's side. The attack hurled him to the ground, rolling desperately to extinguish the flames. He looked back up at Nicole with confusion, but she called him out with venom in her voice. "This whole thing was a setup?! You were just distracting me to get to him?! I'll… I'll KILL you for this!" Her clenched fists flared once more with those strange blue flames. The fire spread from her hands to her forearms and further, until her arms were ablaze with blue from her shoulders down. But before she could take a step, she was seized around the waist.

"That's enough Nikole. Let's get out of here." Nathan was already behind her. His eyes were once again their normal color, and his veins no longer bulged black along his arms. His voice was more level as well. Nicole squirmed in his grasp, but soon relented. The fire faded and she closed her eyes with exhaustion.

Zack staggered back to his feet, his skin still searing from the pain of the girl's assault. "Wait!" He lunged for the demon and his captive, but too late. Nathan glared at the boy before he and Nicole's image blurred like a reflection on rippling water before they shimmered out completely. Zack fell back to the earth out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. He beat the ground with his fist and cursed himself for being too slow. He jumped back to his feet, holding his side from the pain that ensued. "Someone want to tell me how this got screwed up?!"

Cody rounded on his brother. "Probably because you decided to barrel off on your own! We plan things out for a reason Zack!

"I'm afraid it was my fault." Gwen interjected meekly. "I caught sight of him and followed him in here. He must have spotted me before though, because he purposely led me in here to attack me from behind. If Cody and Max hadn't gotten here when they did…"

Zack's expression softened. He couldn't really blame her. He'd fallen into his share of demonic traps in the past. "It's not your fault. But I don't think she's exactly going to be warming up to us after this." His mind recalled the fierceness Nicole had protected Nathan with only moments ago. She actually believed he was her protector. He had manipulated her for ten years, and now she was willing to give it her all to protect him from harm. And that thought made him angrier than he had been in years. The thin pink, almost invisible scar on his cheek throbbed with his rage. He had received it from a darklighter, in a time that seemed very long ago now. And since then it had remained to remind him why he did this. Why he and his brother were witches. To protect innocents like Nicole from monsters like Gabriel.

Max faltered back to her feet, holding a hand to her head. "I say we go back to the Suite for now and get your injuries healed up." She nearly stumbled over and Cody moved to catch her, but Trevor was faster. She fell straight into his arms.

He smiled at her with his insufferable grin that made Cody want to smack it right off. "Take it easy. I think we should worry more about your injuries for now. We can tough ours out."

Max tried to shake him off. "I'm fine. I'm just a little bumped up. I've had worse."

"Still," Cody inferred, "it might be better to take a cab than for you to try and orb us."

She glowered. "With what money?"

Gwen ignored the quarrel and strode over to where Zack was standing. She gave him a reassuring smile and patted his arm. "Don't worry. We'll find her. It's what we do right?"

While he appreciated her comfort, he couldn't shake the horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. They had come so close. If they could have just planned things out a little better. If Cody had agreed to go with them to find her in the first place instead of wasting time at Trevor's loft.

Gwen ran her hand down his arm soothingly until she reached his hand. She looked down at his fingers curiously. "What's this?"

Zack looked down at his hand to see what she was talking about. There, intertwined between his fingers was several strands of mud brown hair. In that one desperate lunge he had made to reach Nathan and Nicole, he must have caught hold of that long brown ponytail before they had vanished completely. He looked at the others to make sure they weren't looking before he hastily stuffed the strands of hair into his jean pocket. At least this hadn't been a total loss.

--Tipton Hotel Boston, Suite 2330--

"So you're telling us that Nathan is a good witch who's been willingly possessed?" Gwen asked. "I never read that about Gabriel."

"I say it's a load of crap." Zack grimaced.

Cody gave him an icy stare, still unhappy that he had chosen to rebel yet again and put himself and others in danger. "Too bad you got a D in history, otherwise we might care what you had to say about this."

Trevor, seated lazily on the couch, a half finished can of cherry coke in one hand, made a thrusting motion with his fist. "Zing."

"I think our best bet right now is a dispossession potion." Cody surmised.

But Zack was persistent. "And I say we just vanquish him! I'm not letting him get away with brainwashing her to use her as some sick wespon!"

"Zack, you're not the judge, jury, and executioner here!"

"Guys, cut it out." Max had decided it was time to step in as their whitelighter. "Look Zack, what do we really know about him? Only that Nicole's been with him since she was six, and that they've been on the run most of that time. We also know that Gabriel can only possess a willing good witch. So far the odds are stacked in favor of him being an innocent that we need to save."

Gwen put a comforting hand on Zack's shoulder. "I'm with them on this one. Nathan scares me, but he might be just as afraid of us. I didn't give you all the information because this is all news to me too. Gabriel is the demon, and the dispossessor potion vanquishes him without hurting Nathan."

Zack grimaced, but broke his angry stare down with his brother in surrender, having nothing else to say.

"So what's the plan now?" Trevor asked, not paying too much attention to the conversation. It wasn't until then that Zack noticed him playing with something in his hands; a small leather wallet.

"Where'd you get that?" he asked, reaching for it.

"This? Oh, I got it when he tackled me." Trevor explained, handing it to him. "Old habits die hard I guess."

Zack opened it and scanned its contents briefly. No money, but there were several forms of identification, none of them with the same last name. There were even a few for Nicole. He listed off the names in his head; Nathan Richards, Nathan Montana, Nathan Callaway, Nathan Matthews, Nathan… the last name on the oldest driver's license almost made him drop the wallet. That name couldn't just be a coincidence. The identification plainly read in bold letters; Nathan Tate.

"All the proof you need right here." He nearly tore the wallet apart trying to get the license to show the others. "Nathan Tate. It's his real name. Ring any bells?"

Cody looked at the license and knit his brows together. "As in Matthew Tate?"

Max looked from the card and then to Zack. "You think they could be related?"

Cody shook his head. "That's not possible. I thought Matthew Tate didn't have any kids. How could he have when Melinda Warren trapped him in that locket those hundreds of years ago?" Matthew Tate had been a warlock who had seduced Melinda Warren, the matriarch of the Halliwell line who had created the Book of Shadows during the witch trials, into sharing her powers. Her coven (which included their own ancestor Eva Proctor) had been involved in a major battle against The Source of All Evil. But Matthew Tate had weaseled his way into their circle, seduced Melinda, learned their plans, and betrayed them, resulting in The Source's victory and Melinda's capture by witch hunters to be burned at the stake. Out of revenge for herself and her coven, Melinda had him trapped in the very locket he had given her for all eternity. "Sykes, do you know anything about this?"

Trevor brushed his bangs out of his face. There was a dark look on his face. "The Tate's are like the mafia of the magical world. They're a family of witches and warlocks that are into organized crime both magical and mortal. Not sure if they have anything to do with the warlock you're talking about though."

"That's all the proof we need." Zack declared again. "Bad blood. He's probably as bad as the rest of them."

"That's not always the case. For all we know, he's running from them." Max reasoned.

Gwen put a pale finger to her chin in thought "That could explain why he pulled her out of magic school so quickly. Now that you mention, I think I remember the one of the teachers, Miss Donovan saying something about someone coming and asking questions about Nicole. Nathan probably got wind of it and took off with her again."

Cody thought for a moment. "Gwen, who exactly put you on the case to track Nicole?"

"Someone from administration as soon as her whitelighter went missing." She answered. "But I never saw them in person. It was just one of the case files in my desk that caught my interest. When I found out about Gabriel, The Elders referred me to you."

"She never said anything about having a whitelighter." Zack recalled from his earlier conversation with her.

Gwen's hazel eyes were wide now, realizing just what the twins were implicating. "You think I was set up?"

"That sounds like their style." Trevor agreed. "They like to use the system, exploiting every loophole to keep their hands clean, at least on paper. Nathan technically isn't her guardian. They could've made a claim, patched it through the files at Magic school, and then to you. I doubt Nathan bothered with the paper work before he pulled her out."

"So all this time… I've been trying to get Nicole back… only to bring her to the real villains?" There was hurt, but also anger in her voice. Clearly Gwen did not like to be used.

"We can sort this all out later." Cody took charge again. "But right now we have a potion to make, and two innocents to find."

"If he really is innocent." Zack reminded them. Cody looked like he was about to argue, but Zack cut him off. "We still don't know Nathan's running from the Tates. He could still be in the family business for all we know."

"But like I said, we can sort it out later. Gwen, could you start scrying? I'll make the potion. Zack, could you get me the ingredients?" Zack said nothing, but made his way grudgingly to the kitchen. Cody turned back to Trevor. "You can still back out of this you know. If we're going up against 'The Mob' of the magical world I wouldn't blame you."

Trevor shot him a sly smile. "Still trying to get rid of me I see. I wouldn't dream of ducking out of an adventure like this. And I have the whole summer free. Besides," he stretched his arms across the couch in a laid back manner, "What kind of gentleman would I be if I turned tail and left these lovely young ladies to do the work." He reached for the coffee table and took a sip from his third can of cherry coke since he'd been in their suite. If he was nervous, he certainly didn't show it.

"And what about you Gwen?"

She looked up at him, the look on her face stating plainly that she was shocked he'd even have to ask. "I've been chasing these two all over the country for three months now, and you honestly think I'd back down now that we have good reason to think that she's in more danger then ever?" She reached for the laptop under the coffee table and booted it up. "Besides," she added, pulling the amethyst crystal out of the same bag where they kept the hook up cables, "no one makes me a pawn." She jammed the crystal into the port so hard, Cody was surprised she didn't break it.

The suite was soon alive with activity. Gwen was scrying with the laptop with intense focus. She had picked up on the system surprisingly fast. Meanwhile Max sharpened her athame, every now and then giving it a practice swing. Purple sparks of electricity would emit from the blade every time she did. It amazed her how easily she was able to use the technique now, considering who had given it to her. Cody had the potion-set out while Zack brought him the ingredients he asked for. Potions were Cody's strength, while Zack was better at writing spells. He had their mother's gift for rhyming. They had also both grown exceptionally gifted at combat, but Cody drew that from his powers, whereas Zack had learned it the hard way, training with Phoebe. As a result he had technique as well as instinct.

With the others thrown into their tasks (to Trevor this meant finishing his coke) they were too busy to notice what Zack was doing. While his brother was distracted with mixing the dispossessor potion, he took out some of the other vials they kept—the bottles of vanquishing potion. They were very basic, and would work on lesser demons, but against the stronger kind they were about as effective as a powerful, but poorly aimed hand grenade. It could wound them, but not kill them. But if a certain ingredient were to be added, a sample from the demon itself, they became one hundred percent lethal to them. Making sure no one could see what he was doing, Zack reached into his pocket for those strands of hair he had snatched from the alley. As quietly as possible, he popped the corks of three of the vials, one for each strand, and slid them into the potions. They hissed and the orange liquid turned a violent red color. He checked to see if the others had heard. They hadn't. 

He took the vials from the cupboard and slid them into his pocket before grabbing the ginger root and handing it to Cody. He patted the items in his pocket, as if to remind himself that they were still there, and thought to himself, "Just in case."