demonbelthazor | The Preserves, Wednesday Evening

After classes on Wednesday, Bel stopped by his room to check his email.

There was an email waiting, sent from an unfamiliar address, one of those free web-based email accounts. Bel had been about to dismiss it as spam and delete it, but something made him click it instead.

The message was simple and unsigned. "I know what you did. Meet me in the center of the Preserves at the dead oak at 8:00 tonight." And attached was a grainy picture of him, in demon form, his hand around the throat of the witch he'd killed last night.

Bel stared at the screen for several long moments. No one had been there but him and Raynor and the witch -- how could someone know? And what if they planned to tell Phoebe, or Angel, or anybody at the school? He couldn't let word get out of what he'd done. They wouldn't believe Raynor had forced him, they'd just think he was reverted back to evil again. He started to panic. He had to find out who it was and stop them from saying anything, whatever it took.

Just before 8:00, he shimmered to the Preserves. He knew where the tree in question was, a huge, old oak tree that had toppled in some storm years before. He found a position where he could watch the area around the tree, unseen in the shadows. Or so he thought.

	Marty had scouted the location early in the morning and secured himself in his hiding spot over an hour before he told Bel to show up. Switching on his starlight scope he put Bel in his crosshairs and wait for the right opportunity to present itself.
	When no one appeared immediately, Bel began to grow more anxious. He wasn't in the mood for games. He stepped quietly from his hiding place, moving closer to the fallen tree. Maybe he just couldn't see the person yet.
	Marty shifted slightly from his position in the woods as Bel stepped forward. He took careful aim at Bel and squeezed the trigger. Only for the gun to make a horrible "CLAK" noise as it jammed. Shit.
	Bel's head jerked up as he heard the noise. Ambush. He scanned the area, trying to spot his would-be-attacker, at the same time seeking some cover behind a tree.
	Marty struggled briefly with his rifle trying to get it to work before giving up and taking the cartridge out of the gun and circling around the clearing to the last position he saw Bel move to.
	Bel picked up the faint sounds of someone moving through the woods around him. "Who the hell are you?" he called out, not caring if it gave away his position. "What do you want?"
	Marty quietly slipped up behind him. "Hello Bel." Not even waiting for him to respond, Marty did a spinning kick towards Bel's head.
	For a second, Bel's thoughts flashed back to earlier that year, in the ruins of what had once been Logan Echoll's house. He blinked, confused. Why the hell was Marty attacking him? Then the kick connected with his head and he spun back and instincts took over. He growled and lunged forward at Marty, reaching for this throat.
	Marty felt Bel's hands close around his windpipe and reflexively brought up his knee, aiming for his most private of body parts. "I saw what you did to her you son of a bitch!"
	Bel twisted so that Marty's knee impacted with his inner thigh, losing his grip on Marty in the process. "You don't know what you're talking about!" he growled, but the demon in him started to surge to the surface, eager to make another kill.
	Marty fell backwards onto the ground where he lashed out with a kick aimed at Bel's kneecap. "Sure! Just another girl dead? Right!" Marty yelled.
	The kick connected, and Bel staggered back. "I didn't want to do it!" he insisted, but he was rapidly losing any possibility of rationally sorting this out. He kicked at Marty's side.
	Marty let out a cry of pain as the kick connected and rolled away to get on his feet. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself when it happened," he growled as he circled Bel.
	"You have no idea what's going on," Bel snapped. "Stay out of it before you get hurt!" His hand started to spark with fire.
	"You think after what happened with Angelus that I'm just going to step aside and let you hurt someone else?!" Marty said keeping a close eye on Bel's hand. "Then you're sadly mistaken."
	"You think you can stop me all by yourself?" Bel sneered. He was too angry now to think about what he was saying. "You're sadly mistaken."
	Marty let the cartridge from the gun roll into the palm of his hand where he gripped it tightly. "Why don't you let your true self out and I'll show you what I can really do. Demon."
	Bel couldn't resist the challenge, not in the state he was in. "As you wish," he said, shifting into demon form, grinning at Marty with razor sharp teeth.
	Marty jumped toward Bel attempting to take him down in a tackle.
	Bel made no move to dodge the tackle. He rolled with Marty on the ground, trying to pin him beneath him.
	Marty tried to avoid being pinned but couldn't overpower Bel in his demon form. With the one arm he needed to use pinned, Marty settled for jamming an elbow into Belthazor's face.
	Bel's head snapped back. He snarled, momentarily releasing Marty's arm as he summoned his athame into his hand.
	Marty's thumb snapped down on the cartridge hard allowing a hypodermic needle to pop out. Not wasting anytime he attempted to jam the needle into the demon's shoulder.
	The needle pierced his shoulder, but Bel just laughed, pushing away from Marty and rising to his knees. "You think you're just gonna tranq me again?" he started to say, then the potion in the dart took affect. Flames surrounded Bel, and he screamed in pain.
	As soon as Bel started to burst into flames, Marty kicked away from him trying to keep himself from getting burnt to a crisp.
	Phoebe had been running in the direction of where she thought she had seen Cole in her premonition when she heard the scream of pain. "Cole," she whispered and started running even faster. When she came through the trees and saw him surrounded by flames, she screamed. "No!" Crying out again, she went right for him.
	Hearing Phoebe, Marty got up and stood her path holding his arms out to stop her. "No! It's too late!"
	The flames died away. Belthazor the demon had disappeared. In his place was Bel's human form, panting, his head down.
	Phoebe looked at Marty, panic in her eyes. She tried to step around him. "Marty, what happened?! Who attacked Cole?" Around Marty's shoulder, she saw the flames die down and saw Cole. She stared for a moment, and then looked back at Marty. "What did you do?"
	"He killed a girl," Marty said with a dark look. "So I used the potion that Veronica gave me to de-power him."
	Dazed, Bel looked around in confusion. "Phoebe?" he called.
	Marty stepped aside letting Phoebe go to Bel. "He's all yours," he said quietly.
	"He killed...?" Phoebe knew that Marty wouldn't lie, but she still had questions. She was incredibly confused. " Can we talk later?" she asked as she went to Cole, crouching in front of him. "I'm here, Cole. I'm here."
	He reached out to her, still bewildered. "What happened?"
	Phoebe swallowed, not sure how to break the news to him. "Cole..." She looked back at Marty and then looked at her boyfriend again. "You're... you're not a demon any more. You're human... an innocent."
	"I wouldn't say that," Marty said as he turned to leave.
	Phoebe didn't say anything to that as she was having a hard enough time telling Cole he was human now. Although, she really did want to know what Cole had done that had caused Marty to use the potion on him.
	Bel stared at Marty's back as it sank in what had happened. He rose to his feet and lunged forward. "You did this!" he yelled, but he still felt weak and awkward and tripped, sprawling to the ground.
	Marty turned around and gave Bel a cold look. "You did this to yourself. You think that girl just died on her own? You let the demon get to you and you murdered her."
	"I didn't have a choice!" Bel protested. "Raynor, he used a spell on me!"
	"You could have taken the de-powering potion back when you were afraid that the demon would take over your human side," Marty countered. "You always have choices Bel. It's just that the ones that are the most difficult aren't pretty."
	"They're going to destroy my father now, and it's your fault!" Bel shouted, struggling to his feet.
	Marty stared at Bel in disbelief. "Would your father let you murder innocent people to keep himself alive?! What kind of bastard are you? Angelus had no soul! What's your excuse?"
	Marty was right -- he didn't have a lack of soul as an excuse, just one he learned to suppress for years. And what his father would think of him was something he wrestled with every day. "Shut up!" he yelled, swinging a punch at Marty. The truth hurt.
	Marty's head snapped back as he took the punch. He gingerly touched his lip where it was beginning to swell and bleed. "Nice punch." Marty turned around and limped off into the woods. "I'll return the favor when you're at full strength."
	Phoebe had been rooted to the spot, reeling over what Marty had said. Cole had killed someone?! Then other things started trickling into her mind. Power-stripping potion. Piper had been able to come up with what she had asked for, but instead of telling her about it or giving it to her... she had given it to Veronica.... who had given it to Marty. Shaking her head to force that all back for now, she moved quickly and grabbed Cole's arm. "Enough," she said softly. "We need to get you taken care of."
	He took a few staggering steps, then leaned heavily on her, accepting her support. "Feels so strange," he mumbled.
	Phoebe nodded. "I guess that happens when you have everything stripped from you, sweetheart." She swallowed. "We need to get you back to the dorms. You need to rest.... and you need to tell me what happened here." She put an arm around him, giving him support. "It'll be okay, you just need rest."
	Bel nodded wearily. "Take me home?" he said softly. Everything was still spinning, and his body felt strange and empty.
	"Of course, love," she said softly, tightening her arm around him as they walked. "I've got you."
	Cole clung to Phoebe as they slowly made their way back to the dorms. He felt alternately scared and relieved, and definitely full of confusion over what the future held for him now.
	Phoebe could feel his emotional upheaval and she really wished she had answers that she could give him. She wished she could make all of this easier for him. At least she could reassure him that she would be there with him and he wouldn't be facing any of this alone.