Disclaimer: Can I just borrow Chris for awhile? An hour or two.
Ch. 14:
The music pounded in P3 as Paige walked up to her sister at the bar.
"Hey, Paige, where ya been?" Piper asked. "You're late."
"I know." She replied, sitting down. "I'm sorry. I got tied up."
"Where?" Piper asked slyly. "At Richard's?"
"No!" Paige said. "I was at work. Get your mind out of the gutter, missy."
"Hey, you're the one that orbs home to fine lingerie." Phoebe said, laughing.
"Two times!" Paige protested. "I did that twice."
"Yeah, it's about the only time we ever see you anymore." Piper told her.
"Why did I come here?" Paige questioned. "To get picked on?"
Phoebe leaned over and gave her a hug.
"Because we love you." She told her sister.
"We kinda miss you." Piper told her.
"I am not at Richard's that much." Paige told them.
Both of her sisters raised their eyebrows.
"Fine." Paige relented. "Okay, maybe I am, but, you know, I am just an orb away if you need help."
"Yeah, the thing is, we just gotta be careful, because if we stray too far away from each other, demons take advantage." Piper said. "We've learned that lesson the hard way a few times."
Phoebe nodded.
"I know." Paige agreed. "I know. I get it. I just really don't want to think of us living together in fifty years."
"Nah!" Piper assured her. "Twenty, thirty years tops."
"We could always move to Hong Kong." Phoebe suggested. "So I could see Jason whenever I want to."
"How do you say 'dream on' in Chinese?" Piper asked.
"Ni Tsai Tsua Mung." Phoebe replied.
"Impressive." Piper said.
"Berlitz." Phoebe replied. "And what about you, Missy? Spill it!"
"Spill what?" Piper said innocently.
"Come on." Phoebe pushed. "You and Greg-put out any fires lately?"
"Is that supposed to be a subtle fireman reference?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, you like it?" Phoebe asked, smiling.
"Wait a minute." Paige said. "You're going out with a firefighter?"
"Proof positive you haven't been around much." Piper told her.
Paige rolled her eyes and shrugged.
"Let's see." Phoebe summarized. "They've been seeing each other for about three weeks, and someone-I won't say who, although it's not the fireman-is avoiding taking it to the next step."
"I am not avoiding." Piper protested. "I'm just a little reluctant. That's all."
"My dear, it is time to get back in the saddle." Paige told her.
"Yeah, easy for you to say." Piper said. "You weren't the only one sleeping with an angel for three years."
"Oh, I so don't want to hear about this."
The sisters turned around to find Meredith standing behind them in a short black dress, her hair hanging down around her face.
"Wow, you look amazing." Phoebe told her. "That dress is fantastic."
"Yeah, it's someone's idea of a birthday gift." Meredith said smiling.
"Hey, I thought you'd like it." Chris said from behind her. "Happy Birthday."
"I think maybe I shouldn't have dragged you so many shopping trips." She replied, grinning at him as he kissed her cheek.
"That would've been nice." He replied. "I'll see you later."
He started to walk away, but Meredith stopped him.
"Hey, come on." She told him. "It's my birthday. Dance with me."
"Maybe later." He told her. "I've got work to do."
"Chris, you've got to relax." Piper told him. "Come have a drink with us."
"Thanks, but I didn't come here to relax." Chris replied.
He walked away and Meredith sat down with a sigh.
"That is one bitchy Whitelighter." Phoebe said.
"You're telling me." Piper and Meredith said at the same time.
They looked at each other and Meredith laughed.
"Hey, Piper, why don't you, uh go talk to the guilt machine over there." Paige suggested. "Mmmmm?"
"I'll come with you." Meredith said as Piper slipped off her stool. "If nothing else, maybe we can drag him out."
Piper chuckled.
Chris entered the back room of P3 and turned on the light to find a woman waiting for him in the chair.
"Bianca…" he said softly, shutting the door behind him.
She stood up and they moved towards each other as Chris shook his head in confusion.
"I don't understand." He told her. "What are you doing here?"
She placed a finger against his lips to stop his questions.
"Shh." She told him. "There'll be time to explain later."
She ran her hand, which had a bird-shaped birthmark on her inner wrist, down his neck to his chest.
"But for now…" she whispered.
Her eyes met his and, with one swift movement, she plunged her hand into his chest, power flowing from him into her hand. Chris slowly sank down as she drained his power from him.
The door opened and Piper walked in, followed my Meredith.
"Hey, Chris, you know, all work and no-hey!" Piper exclaimed.
Bianca looked at them and smirked at Meredith before pulling her hand out of Chris and forming an energy ball.
Piper blasted her and she disappeared into smoke.
Chris slid down the wall and Meredith ran to his side.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked.
Chris sat there, gasping for breath as Meredith made him look at her.
"Yeah." He said, pulling away. "I think so."
Meredith sat back as Piper helped Chris to his feet.
"What happened?" she asked. "Who was she?"
Chris didn't even look at Meredith as he answered Piper.
"I don't know." He replied.
Paige stood in front of the Book, flipping the pages.
"Is that the mark?" she asked, pointing to a drawing.
"No, it looked more like a bird." Piper replied.
"A bird?" Paige asked. "So you're saying maybe the Audubon society sent the demon after us?"
Piper plopped herself on a chair and Phoebe sat on the arm next to her. Chris paced in front of them, while Meredith stood in front of the window, looking out.
"Just keep looking." Piper told Paige.
"Guys, I'm telling you, I'm fine." Chris said. "Don't sweat it."
"You sure she wasn't a Darklighter?" Leo asked, ignoring Chris.
"I'm sure." Piper told him.
"What else would be after a Whitelighter?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't know." Leo replied. "That's what worries me."
"She's gone." Chris said. "Piper blew her away. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal is someone tried to kill you, Chris." Phoebe said. "Meredith, what do you think?"
Meredith turned and looked at Chris before sighing.
"I think, whoever she is, Piper killed her." She said.
"See?" Chris said. "Look at me. Not a scratch. Nothing."
Meredith turned back to the window as Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, how did she get that close to you anyway, if you didn't even know who she was?" Leo asked.
Chris resumed his pacing and stepped on a squeaky floorboard.
"You really ought to fix that, you know." He said.
"Come on, Chris." Leo said. "Who's after you?"
"Has it crossed your mind that maybe she wasn't after me?" Chris replied. "Maybe she was trying to get to them."
"Kind of makes sense." Paige said, looking up from the Book.
"Finally!" Chris exclaimed. "Somebody's listening to me.
Meredith growled and walked over to him.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked softly.
He hesitated before nodding and the two walked out of the attic.
"He's not telling the truth." Leo said, watching them go.
"Leo, maybe there's nothing to tell." Paige said.
"Could you sense anything?" Leo asked Phoebe.
"From Chris?" she asked. "No, I can never sense anything from him."
"What about Meredith?" he asked.
"Just worry." Phoebe answered. "She worries about him a lot."
"What are you thinking?" Piper asked.
"I'm thinking that if we figure out who she was, we might be able to figure out who Chris is." Leo replied.
"Well, we're not gonna find it in here." Paige said, closing the book. "At least not until we have more to go on, so you guys know where I'm gonna be if you need me."
Paige headed for the door and Phoebe got up.
"Yeah." She said. "I gotta go, too."
They both left the attic and Leo watched them leave.
"Wait, you're just gonna let 'em go?" Leo asked Piper.
"What do you want me to say?" Piper asked. "They have lives, too. Besides, what more can we do?"
"Well, we can try and figure out who the demon is and make sure nobody else is after him." Leo said.
The doorbell rang and Piper turned her head in that direction.
"I'll get it." Leo said. "You just keep checking out the book, okay?"
"No, Leo, really, I'd rather you-" Piper started, but he had already orbed away.
Leo orbed to the front door and opened it to find a good looking man on the front porch.
"Can I help you?" Leo asked him.
"Yeah, is Piper home?" the man asked.
"Uh, who's asking?" Leo asked.
"I'm Greg." The man replied. "She's expecting.
"Leo, I got it." Piper said, coming up behind him. "Sorry, I'm running a little late."
She grabbed her bag and headed out the front door as Greg leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"Leo, as in your-?" he asked.
"Yeah." Piper replied. "One and the same. Leo, Greg. Greg, Leo."
"Nice to finally meet you." Greg told him, holding his hand out to Leo.
"Thanks." Leo replied, taking the hand. "Finally."
"So, are you gonna be okay taking care of everything-" Piper asked. "Wyatt…and Chris and Meredith?"
"Uh, yeah." Leo replied, smiling tightly. "Absolutely."
Piper stared at him doubtfully.
"Really, everything'll be fine." He assured him. "If anything comes up, I'll call you."
"Okay." Piper said. "Thanks. Good night."
Greg waved to Leo as they left and Leo shut the door. He leaned heavily on the door for the moment, before walking away.
Chris sat down on the bed as Meredith stood in front of him.
"Let me see." She said.
"What?" he asked.
"Don't mess with me." Meredith said strictly. "The sisters may not know what she was, but I do, and I know what she was doing. So, let me see."
Chris sighed and slowly unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a wound on his chest.
Meredith hissed as she examined it.
"This is not good." She told him. "She's the only one who can heal this."
She backed away as he buttoned his shirt.
"Why is she here?" she asked softly.
"I don't know." Chris replied.
"Chris, I hate to say it, but this does kind of lend itself to the idea that she…" Meredith trailed off.
"I know." He said softly.
"What are we going to do?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know." He replied.
He got up and walked past her out of the room. Meredith watched him go, sighing.
Chris stood in the bathroom, looking at the wound. He stared at it in the mirror for a moment before closing his shirt.
He bowed his head and sighed heavily. He lifted his eyes to the mirror and dug in his pocket for something. Finally, he took out an engagement ring.
In the ruins of the arboretum, Chris slipped a ring onto Bianca's finger.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
"You're asking me now?" she asked.
"Mm-hmm." He replied, nodding.
"Here?" she questioned.
"This is still our spot, Bianca, no matter what he's done to it." He told her.
"I doubt it was him." She said softly.
"Bianca." He sighed.
"I'm sorry." She said. "I know you don't believe it, but I don't have the same faith in her you do."
"Forget all that." He told her, squeezing her hand. "Marry me."
"On one condition." She told him. "You come back to me…" Chris laughed. "Safely."
"Have I ever let you down before?" he asked.
She looked at him for a moment before leaning in to kiss him. The kiss was interrupted though by a whirring sound. Bianca pulled away and looked around.
"What's that?" she asked.
They saw a probe fly over the wall, dive to their spot and start to scan Bianca.
"Chris!" she shouted.
Chris waved his hand and the probe flew into an old stone statue and exploded on impact.
"Are you okay?" he asked Bianca as she took a couple of deep breaths.
"Yeah." She said. "Yeah. I don't think it had time to transmit."
Chris surged to his feet in frustration.
"I cannot believe he's sending probes after us now." Chris said angrily. "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch."
Bianca got to her feet and tried to calm him down.
"No." she told him. "No, you're not. You're gonna stick to the plan. Besides, you don't even know it was him that sent it."
"For the last time, Bianca, Meredith did not betray us." Chris ground out. "She did what she had to. She would never hurt me or you."
"Why can't you see that she doesn't care what happens to you?" Bianca shot back. "She choose Wyatt! Why can't you just let her go?"
"Because she's trapped." Chris told her. "Because I have to save her!"
"Is that why you're doing this?" Bianca asked, stepping back. "To get her back? Is that why you're going back?"
"No, Bianca." Chris said, taking her hand. "I'm going back to save us all. I have to stop him, and this is the only way."
She sighed and wrapped his arms around him.
"I'll be here." she told him softly. "Waiting for you."
Chris looked away from the ring, sighing. Finally, he slipped the ring back in his pocket.
Meredith stood, looking out her window. In her hand was her wedding ring.
Meredith sat in the living room, playing with her daughter, when a demon shimmered in. Without thinking, Meredith threw up her arm and a blast of electricity flew from her hand, hitting the demon and vanquishing him.
"I've told you not to do that."
She turned to see Wyatt standing behind her. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw how close he was to Jenny, but she forced herself to breath easily.
"And I've told you, I don't want them shimmering in that close to Jenny." Meredith said crossly. "What if they decide to revolt? Jenny is the easiest target of all of us. She's the one they'll go after. I'm only protecting my daughter."
Wyatt chuckled and moved to stand in front of her.
"My little warrior." He said softly.
A second later, he backhanded her, sending her flying across the room.
"Please stop killing the help." He told her conversationally as she unsteadily got back on her feet.
Jenny looked at her mother, tears in her eyes.
"How 'bout you stop scaring your daughter?" Meredith shot back, spitting blood out of her mouth.
"She needs to learn that orders are to be obeyed." He replied easily.
"What do you want, Wyatt?" Meredith asked wearily. "Don't you have a world you're supposed to be running?"
"Yes, but I need some information from you." He replied. "I've just heard that my dear brother is going to ask his Phoenix whore to marry him. Where do you think he'll do it?"
"The park." Meredith said immediately. "Under the willow tree. It's where he and Bianca would go to be alone."
Wyatt smiled and threw her into a wall, holding her there with his powers.
"You're lying." He said softly. "Do you think I'm stupid? That's where you and he went. Now where would he go?"
Meredith looked past him to see a terrified Jenny and the fight went out of her.
"The Arboretum." She replied softly. "Send the probe to the Arboretum."
He let her go and she fell to the ground, coughing.
"Now was that so hard?" he asked before orbing out.
Jenny ran to her mother, crying, and Meredith gathered her up in her arms.
"Run, Chris." She said softly. "I'm sorry."
Meredith clenched the ring in her hand before putting it in her pocket and walking out.
A/N: What did you guys think? Let me know.
Abbey