Crimson Concrete for a Thorny Rose (part 1) by Instant Classic Superstar Pac

Disclaimer: Charmed is complete property of the late Aaron Spelling, Connie Burge, Brad Kern, and co. I only own one character seen here, that being Derrick Serkan Brady, and the pieces of the storyline you are about to read that are not seen or hinted at on Charmed. Also, regardless of whose vision they are, all characters involved either are/were or would be portrayed by actual human beings with at least an iota of believable acting ability.

Rating: T

Summary: Follow-up to Love's Demonic Black Sheep set within pieces of season 7. Derrick's quest to save both Kyra and Cole comes closer to impossible through a heartbreaking setback which he must find the resolve to plow through and rise above.

NOTE: It's been long enough for me to perfectly cite my own laziness when it comes to actually writing what comes into my mind since the last time I updated anything with these two. I haven't exactly been swamped with a lot of stuff to do of late, so I don't really have that excuse to dull out about this. All I can do now is try to be more active now and I guess that starts at this point.

Anyway, Love's Demonic Black Sheep left off days before Cole Turner used his Avatar powers to take what would prove a fatal trip through the fabric of time and reality, only to end up not in the demonic wasteland, but in some unspecified form of limbo (which those of you that watched through season 7 already know what it is). Since we already know that happened, going through Kyra and Derrick's adventures from there in anything more than brief detail probably wouldn't take us through anything important enough to warrant entire chapters being made of it. That is, until a certain point in the program where she begins to become prominent. And that is what I'm here to take care of right now.

Now, one of my last reviewers to Love's Demonic Black Sheep (I'm thinking it was my last reviewer) commented about my long ass author's notes before and after the story in that one. For that set, it was necessary, just to try and get everybody smoothed over as to where exactly I was coming from, but now that a general idea has been established as to some part of where this whole saga is going, I've decided that I'm not gonna just automatically go ahead with these book-length author's notes as a given. But… if anybody has any questions about any of this, don't hesitate to slip it into your reviews, cause an answer's comin' as of the next piece.

Also, this plot of this two-piece is heavily centered around Valhalla as presented in season 6's Valhalley of the Dolls premiere. Anyway, folks, now to get on with the show. It's about time, after all.

"Where the hell did all this come from, anyway, huh, Kyra!?" Derrick was now shouting angrily within their lair.

"You're not even trying to understand- I didn't see you anywhere!" Kyra shot back, easily coming off more defensive than angry. "That means you can't get involved in this even if you try!"

"Haven't we already changed the future before- you know, with Cole!? Why can't we do it again this time!?" he demanded, clearly frustrated about the issue at hand.

"That was different!" Kyra contended immediately.

"May I ask how!?" Derrick shot back.

"We had several days to figure something out, and you were not gonna die!" she then explained

"Speaking of which, you said you didn't see me at all in there. How does that mean I'm dead and you didn't just miss me somewhere!?" he questioned.

"Do you have the power to vanish without a trace and come back at will?" Kyra asked, surprisingly with her tone calmed down. This got him to stand down for a couple seconds and actually think about her question.

"No," he answered swiftly, though the attack in his tone was lost as well.

"Then the fact that I don't see you anywhere after the point that I'm blocked from seeing means you die, as in get vanquished and cease to exist, thanks to something really powerful that doesn't let me see how it happens," Kyra was finally able to explain to him, and immediately he just seemingly came to a complete stop. Not that his breath was ever obscured by anything, but one could barely tell that he was even doing that much. "The absolute only way you can escape this is if you go away - y'know, leave and never come back - before this really powerful something ever comes down here. And that happens in less than an hour! We have to get you out of here or else you're gonna get killed! Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

The second she stopped talking and actually looked at Derrick, she regretted the way that she'd worded that last question. She could see that he was already deeply torn here - he didn't even look like his usual hopeful self. Now, sure, seeing him be happy-go-lucky wasn't exactly one of the most common occurrences in the world, but happy-go-lucky wasn't the way to describe the quality about him that she was so easily comfortable in growing accustomed to over these years. Rather, on top of the genuine loyalty he showed her and the always-painstaking effort and thought he always helped her put into accomplishing their personal goals, was this determination to keep moving forward, keep trying to find a way, and never give up - all because he actually cared about her. Each of these qualities she could actually say he had in leaps and bounds over every other being in the Underworld she ever encountered all put together, and it suddenly struck her in a really worrisome way when she noticed that the main one, his unending resolve, just seemed at the moment like it had just totally crumbled.

"Uh… are you okay?" she asked eventually as she regained her senses after what seemed like an eternity, though now she immediately thought-berated herself for asking such an insensitive sounding question. He looked up at her in response, but was visibly quite downcast.

"Sorry, d'you say something?" he suddenly asked. For a second, though, she didn't respond, still in a very uneasy awe at how he suddenly appeared as if he'd just resigned himself to a fate worse than death.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah…" she sounded off, his question finally starting to register with him. "Yeah, I…" she stopped herself as i finally came to her how to inquire into his mindset. "What are you thinking right now?"

He let out a sigh in response. She couldn't tell whether this meant the direct approach had reached him or was simply now just lost on him in all his newfound despair. Though she would soon get her answer.

"I'm thinking… that now I have two choices: either die, or live without a raison d'être," was his vocal reply, laced with some disgust at this current situation. "And I'm thinking, that this is perhaps the most undesirable couplet of choices in the history of the world!"

"I know, and trust me- this is the last thing that I wanted," she stated, assuring him he had her understanding. "Especially since you've been there for me in such a way that would probably make all this bring me to tears if I could feel things the way a human can. But Derrick, this… this is what I saw. And we can't do anything about it. More importantly, if we try to do anything about it, then you're gonna die."

"And if we don't try to do anything about it, then in a couple of months, you're gonna die!" Derrick reminded her urgently.

"You probably can't do anything about that anyway, and even if you could, better me than you! You can actually go out into the world and set out to do anything you want just off what and who you are, while this whole Seer thing, as much as it sucks, is everything I've got!" Kyra retorted with just as much fervor.

"No, it's not! You have-"

"Shhhh," she soundly cut off the Double-Edged blonde, with a finger up to his lips for emphasis. "I know what you might wanna say. But you better not think about it. Don't even take a second to consider throwing away your life for me." Instantly he furrowed his brows in some sort of shocked contemplation, as that comment indeed hit him really close to home. A brief sigh and a lowered head later, he started to get it. A certain conversation he had with an old friend a good 20-and-some-change months ago began to flash right back into his mind, and he finally dawned on him. This was a part of that conversation he had with Cole when he tracked him down and tried to dissuade the then-nearly-118-year-old demonic human from allowing his love for Phoebe Halliwell to be the end of him. That was actually the emphatic poin the'd had to make then, for which he'd drawn on his understanding of Kyra, and it was that very point which she'd just thrown back at him, whether she realized (remembered watching) it or not.

And speaking of which, as he gazed back up to look her in the eyes again, he honestly couldn't tell whether she realized it or not. But there was something he could tell for sure, once again knowing her better than she seemed to know herself.

"You really do care about me a lot, too, don't you?" he finally reasoned, with a trace of hopefulness that she would finally start to see herself in a better light.

"Pretending I even have a conscience, which, again, I don't think I do, letting you die because of me would probably be the first huge, crushing weight on it," she conceded, which brought a small chuckle from the half-whitelighter. Though it wasn't a full-on 'I-really-do-have-feelings-after-all' admission, he figured that pushing that issue right now would be a little too cliché to do any good. Then came the confusion flood: "Which is why I want you to go to Valhalla."

"Wait, what? Valhalla?" was the only reply that he could sensibly muster. Especially considering he hadn't thought of where to go yet in all his shock at the situation, this choice of locale came totally out of left field.

"Yeah, Valhalla," she repeated to clarify. "The place with the warrior women? Where Leo's future son decided to banish him?"

"I know where you're talking about. I don't think I saw much, but what I did see looked pretty inviting," Derrick recalled.

"You mean the place or the Valkyries?" Kyra asked, knowing full well what she was implying there.

"Eh. Both," he casually shrugged it off. "But why'd you pick that destination for a place to go?"

"It's a place to live, you have no reason whatsoever to hide your powers there, and I think you're the kind of guy that can earn a close place with the Valkyries and practically be the man in their midst," Kyra plainly explained, still managing to be chipper as ever considering that this was supposed to be the moment she sent him away never to see each other again. "I want you to be somewhere you can be cared for, Derrick, and even though those women are really focused on training their warriors for the final battle between good and evil, I really think you can make them come around and see that you can help them out."

"But why would I want to?" he asked, still not seeing any reason he could have to go through with this.

"A: they're beautiful women. Don't be like Leo. Stop complaining," she immediately responded, getting straight to it this time. He felt like saying even the Valkyries wouldn't measure up to her, but he held his tongue, as that would defeat the purpose of 'stop complaining' and open up too many floodgates at a too predictable time. "B: it'll be a good way to pass the time until you figure out your next move. Sure as hell beats staying down here in this dreary little place we call the Underworld and boring yourself to death a couple more years, assuming you impossibly survive. C: who knows? You might actually enjoy it. And as far as a new purpose goes, having it connected to something involving that place makes perfect sense and could easily happen." Impressed at her well-placed reasoning, Derrick stood gob smacked for just a few seconds.

"Wow," was all he mustered, leading to a pause for a couple more seconds. "You really thought this through, didn't you?" he was then finally able to ask.

"Well, of course! It's not like I just said to myself, 'hey, why don't I just send Derrick to where all the beautiful women are!' I may look pretty and maybe even act a little cute, but I deserve a lot more credit for my brains than that, don't I?" she sharp-wittedly contended, only to receive another short pause of silence. It was as if Derrick wanted to stall his leave for as long as possible. She probably wouldn't admit it to herself, but subconsciously it took all she had not to do the same to the point where she wouldn't be able to go through with sending him away.

"Yeah," was his only solemn reply. With that, the whole gravity of the situation finally struck a deeper nerve with her. "You do. You deserve credit for a lot of things, in fact."

"Thanks," she uttered with a barely-there smile, before reaching out and hugging him. He, of course, gladly returned the embrace, and each held on for a long time, as if unwilling to let go solely because they knew they would have to eventually. It seemed like forever, before, almost 20 seconds later, they finally did indeed break the hug.

"I'm gonna miss you, Kyra," he told her, these words coming from the bottom of his heart. "More than you know."

"Me too. And… thank you. For never giving up on me, and always trying to help me," she stated in return. "Now go, Derrick. Before every bloodthirsty creature down here starts looking in my direction for answers and stuff. I couldn't bear to see you get killed by one of them right in front of me now." Between these telling words coming out of her mouth which were very indicative her true heart and nature, though that would sadly no doubt be lost on her before she had time to think about what she said, the finality of the matter still registered with both of them.

"Is the pool set up?" he finally asked her.

"Yep. Just orb through and you should come out by a waterfall." she replied. Though, as soon as he moved… "Oh, wait!" He then stopped and turned to her one last time, allowing her to say: "Good luck."

"Thank you," was his near-silent reply. "And goodbye."

"Bye," was all she could barely muster at the end, as he disappeared into a sea of red orbs which immediately shot into the pool.

And out of a waterfall in Valhalla, seconds later, that same sea of red orbs popped up, hovered over land, and then reformed back into the red-coated mixed blood blonde again. Looking around him, he saw that it worked - he was standing on a trail surrounded on both sides by lush vegetation, healthy grass, and a lively-seeming mass assortment of trees. Behind the trail was a segmented waterfall which gave an appearance of it being two separate waterfalls going into the same stream of water - the one closer to the ground he stood on was obviously the one he came through. He barely got any time to look over at the waterfall before hearing an alarm sound off and turning sharply in the direction of the trail. He soon collected his bearings, though, realizing that this only meant they were looking for him. He still had plenty of time to get mentally ready, and he planned on using it.

He knew that he only had a few minutes left until the Valkyries eventually found him here, so he immediately tried to recall the main personalities that he needed to know about - especially Freyja, the Valkyries' obvious leader and apparently their queen despite the fact that she wasn't the one wearing the golden armored dress or the brown forehead band, instead having left that to her close subordinate Mist. Rather, he recognized Freyja as the one whose paramount beauty, flowing blonde hair which reminded him of one of his old hairdos, and authoritative attitude spoke for itself as to who she was. Of course, there was also Kara, who Kyra would call the very surly one. She was practically incapable of showing good faith in anyone that wasn't a Valkyrie from what he could tell, and he was actually quite surprised when he thought about her that he hadn't heard anything about her trying to rebel against their purpose and simply have them prepare to fight the final battle alone.

Though, thinking about Kara and what Kyra would say about her immediately distracted him, thanks to their names being so similar yet the latter's obviously being much more fondly familiar to his tongue and mind. And so, he was wrapped once more in thoughts of Kyra. That beautiful Seer back home - yes, he called that dim and dreary Underground cavern home, or now at least his former home, as opposed to just a decent lair - who was probably watching him right now and waiting for the Valkyries to finally get to him so he could get moving just the same as he was. The one who for years, he'd dedicated every fiber of his being to helping try to escape her empty existence as a Seer in the Underworld… quite frankly, if one looked at the situation realistically, for no reason terribly unlike why Cole had done everything in his power to try to be with Phoebe, literally at all costs. Immediately Derrick was panged with regret, the realization sweeping over him once again that the journey he was about to undertake would cement the goodbye that he had painfully shared with her earlier. With his head down, he sighed and turned towards the waterfall, as if yearning, wishing, to orb back to the lair and go back to the way things were before.

However, he had to shake his head momentarily, to shake that thought out of his system. There was no sense in trying to go back and compromising his own existence when there was no indication that it would do anything to help save hers.

And if he didn't already know that he there was no turning back now, he certainly knew it when he heard the call:

"Hey! You there!"

After pausing a few seconds, he would turn around and see the source of that call. It was the queen herself, accompanied by her two main demi-goddess sidekicks.

Freyja had found him.

"Care to tell us what you're here for? This island is hallowed ground!" she wasted no time in reminding him with authority. Oh, well. Guess it was time to dust off the old chomp's block. He needed some outlet for his present torrent of emotions, after all.

"I'm well aware of that, thank you," he finally stated in retort, taking off his sunglasses before going further. He'd probably regret it, but this was his chance to vent by being an ass. "See, I'm also well aware that you specifically are the queen on this hallowed ground. Now, here's where I'm lost. Am I supposed to be quakin' in my boots, or should I charm your pants off?"

"You disrespectful…! Get on your knees and apologize to Freyja right now, before I make you get on your knees!" Kara immediately stepped forward to commandingly respond, protective of her leader as always.

"Well, you could do that, but you see, if you use that cute little ability of yours to try to force me to get on my knees, you will have just annoyed your future champion into leaving and never coming back," he replied straight back, his tone growing in seriousness with every word.

"Our future champion, you say?" Freyja repeated, her curiosity clearly aroused by that insinuation.

"Yeah, and here's what I have going for me. For one thing, I'm living, so you'd enjoy me as your champion. Also, you can set any of your trained warriors against me, but here's the fact: none of them can beat me," he proudly boasted some more to assert his claim. "See, I win my fights," he started before pointing to his brain, "up here."

"He seems quite confident in himself," Mist, who'd basically been observing him the whole time to see if he really appeared to be someone capable of backing up claims as bold as the ones he was making.

"Well, I say he's boorish, crude, and an arrogant fool," Kara insisted. "Don't give in to any of his demands, Freyja. If he really wishes to be here, just put him to task in training just like any other warrior. That should teach him some humility."

"You're looking at the first, and possibly the only, half-vampire, half-whitelighter ever in history," he finally revealed to them, a statement to which they were stunned and caught completely off guard. "Lumping me in as any other warrior is categorically impossible. And speaking of boorish and crude, you're the one talking smack about me as if I'm not here right in front of me."

"That's it! He needs to learn who the masters of this domain are, Freyja," Kara nearly shouted, getting more than easily frustrated. "Cast him down and make him start from scratch. Then he will learn to bow down to us!"

"No," Freyja flatly refused. "We have to see firsthand what he can do before we decide what to do with him. You know that, Kara. Whether his personality is submissive or not at first should never make a difference as to how we judge a warrior."

"Then let me volunteer firsthand to fight him inside the cage myself," Kara suggested, choosing an option appealing to her leader's reasoning. Mist appeared to be quite shocked at the thought of this match happening, though.

"No! No, no, no, see that's not fair! I'm not gonna claim or pretend that I have this huge honor code, but one thing I don't like to do is to hit a woman if I can help it," Derrick tried to contend against facing her. Not to mention, he hoped the other two already saw, the lack of respect Kara would show to that inhibition, as clearly she would take advantage of it to pummel him.

"You can't help it!" Kara cut off his train of thought. At least she was honest there. "You come to us with such a tone that you think you're already our king, insisting so brashly that you can be our champion, then you should expect the roughest possible test of your skills! And we are not ordinary women; we're demi-goddesses of the highest kind. We don't merely command our warriors with feminine wiles. There's a reason why we are the ones training them to get ready for the final battle! If you really didn't want to take me on, then you should've spoken carefully to not disrespect the queen!" Derrick couldn't help but be quite surprised at the passion for being a Valkyrie and especially for what they do that was clearly evident in Kara's voice at the moment. Even Freyja, and needless to say Mist as well, were actually caught agape at the depth of her faith.

"Wow," Derrick finally managed to utter after what seemed like a brief eternity, before eventually recollecting his bearings. "You really feel strongly about this thing, don't you?"

"I… think that goes without saying," Mist replied as she and Freyja slowly regained control of their own faculties as well.

"Well, then. Guess I'm an idiot for asking," he conceded. "So, let's just move on. Since you're really willing to do this, then I guess I can't help it. Let's get ready to do this."

NOTE: Cut… cut… hold it… cut it up!

Okay, sorry for trying to play director here, and I know I said this was gonna be a two-parter, and I also know I said this would be heavily focused on Valhalla, which the cutoff… but, ladies and gentlemen, that is categorically impossible right now. This is seriously a mid-game play here, but I can already sense this part is gonna too long to handle all in one stroke. And out of love, mercy, and respect for the peeps of Charmed, it can only stand as fair that I protect you guys from getting short-winded through one chapter and cut it in half. I'm actually almost done with the rest of this part as I type this, so I'm fairly confident in the certainty of what I'm talking about. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I've decided that this is actually going to be a three-parter with an official part 1b in the middle. Again, I'm mostly done with it, you can expect it to be in tomorrow, and of course, that is where Derrick's one hell of an eventful day really gets focused on setting him up for a stay in Valhalla.

By the way, apart from borrowing from Norse mythology, Valhalla as presented in these chapters is also the same Valhalla as presented from the opening episode of season 6, a real two-parter, Valhalley of the Dolls.. A hint to that: Valkyries are demigoddesses now because Freyja is a Valkyrie instead of a goddess. That has "Brad Kern creative team" written all over it.

May our destinies keep us safe, if that makes any sense. See you guys in the future… by about one day.

-Pac.

P.S. Special kudos goes to 1) whoever can figure out who the demon was that thoroughly used Kyra in the past to the point I depicted him in a piece of Love's Demonic Black Sheep as having stolen telepathy and used it to learn her name, and 2) whoever other than Dragon and Sword Master can answer as to who is this "Edge" that I would have playing Derrick if this was on the show and I were the casting agent. Thanks for reading and in advance for any reviews, all. See ya later!