Sleuthing with the Enemy

The blood smell and weakness caused by the serious abdominal wound inflicted on Balthazar in the finale of the prior episode by Piper wielding a magic dagger (Althemea) allows a bounty hunting demon sent by the Source of All Evil to track Belthazor-Cole to assassinate him for taking out the Triad. In order to avoid the hunting demon Belthazor has to stick to his human form so he won't be able to sense him. After fighting him in the cemetery Cole manages to flee leaving the demon in even more rage. When the sisters Prue and Piper use the bit of Belthazor's flesh to summon the demon, Phoebe is off checking Cole's apartment as she hasn't seen him for over a week. The summoning malfunctions and brings the bounty hunter demon Krell who had been fighting Belthazor when they invoked the spell. After a three way fight where he is hard pressed by Prue and Piper's magic and martial arts agrees to team with the two when they realize they are looking to vanquish the same demon. Later piecing together various clues and indicators, the sisters, together with Krull recognize Cole's suit coat when the demon tracks the blood smell on it to a homeless man in an alley. Thus they discover that Cole is Belthazor. Phoebe finds Cole in his apartment wounded and calls Leo to heal him. But since Cole is partially demon Leo can heal only a part of him about which he tells Phoebe. The knowledge that Cole is Balthazar presents Phoebe with the poisoned choices and situation that the bounty hunter and her sisters are closing in to kill him so that she must make one of the toughest decisions of her life: either vanquish her boyfriend or keep an extremely dangerous demon alive. Cole escapes with Phoebe and the two share an anguished moment of revelation, confession, understanding and empathy during which Phoebe actively decides to cover for Cole (who appears to be innocent his feelings and emotions apart from the demon living in him). After Cole uses his remaining strength to vanquish the hunting demon to save Phoebe she has no doubts any longer and fakes his vanquishing, the guilt for which action comes to haunt her in later episodes.