Code of Honour

After Chris had explained and re-explained his news, Leo finally left for the Elders. Phoebe wasn't the only one to be relieved, judging from Chris' and Paige's expression. Even Piper didn't seem to mind that her ex-husband and ex-whitelighter had once again vanished, but then the situation held enough tension without the explosions Chris and Leo caused whenever they confronted each other.

Besides, they had better things to do than question the two men's motives. Gideon's relocation had changed everything, and they'd need to come up with a new plan before, as Chris phrased it, Gideon dug in and this turned into Passchendaele – whatever that was.

With a swish of his wrist, Chris had a large piece of paper sailing over to the living room table, drew a pen from his sweater pocket and started drawing. Even this crude, hasty representation was enough to show them that the situation had changed dramatically.

"This is the cave system Gideon seems to have taken over," Chris explained. "I do not know how many demons he recruited exactly, but we can't expect to be in luck. As you see, there's a main cave, about as large as a football field, connected to a whole lot of smaller caves. We have no hope of blocking all these entrances, and that makes us vulnerable. We also can't hope to trap Gideon in this room as we could have with the wards around his office. The best thing we can do is plant a ward against orbing in one of the smaller caves and try to trap him as quickly as possible. We'll also need a whole wagonload of vanquishing potions, since we have no idea what type of demons we'll be up against…"

He broke off, suddenly, and shook his head in an angry, abrupt motion.

"Something wrong?" Phoebe asked. He shrugged as if to brush it away, then obviously rethought.

"I don't like this," he answered, meeting her eyes openly, as if she were an equal, a comrade, not just an irritation to him. "It would mean going in blind, and we can't be sure how long Gideon has prepared this. It could all be a trap…"

"So these are the famous leadership qualities of Fox?" Leo asked, and the sisters jumped in surprise. They hadn't noticed his return. Chris however only half turned around and gave him an irritated glare, obviously neither surprised by Leo's presence nor his antagonism.

"Back so soon," he said, and only a tiny bitter note in his voice told them that he wasn't happy about it.

Leo just nodded. He seemed satisfied about something, Phoebe thought, almost smug, even though an Elder wasn't supposed to experience that kind of baser feeling.

"I have informed the Elders," he told them. "And they have decided to station me down here, with you, for the time being. Gideon is a very real threat, and you need the best whitelighter you can get."

One glance towards Chris, as smug as could be, said it all, and Phoebe wanted to slap her ex-brother-in-law. Couldn't he see how hard Chris was working?

But Chris didn't share her indignation.

"Good," he said calmly. "We need every help we can get with this."

And that was Chris all over, Phoebe thought as she watched their current whitelighter make space for their former one and repeat the information he had already given them. He might hate Leo, but he was first and foremost devoted to his job, and Leo was a valuable addition to their group.

So Chris would shove away his own hurt and indignation, just as he was doing now, and concentrate on the things that were more important. As he had done with Hand.

And the best thing they could do for him, Phoebe realized, was to play along and pretend that ugly confrontation in the kitchen hadn't taken place. So she stepped to Chris' side, and concentrated on their makeshift-map again.

"Is there any way to reduce the risk, then?" She asked, taking up Chris' thought as if the interval hadn't happened. "Can we scout the area, or something?"

Chris sent her a surprised but thankful look.

"It's difficult," he then said. "We could try to find out more, but that would risk Gideon noticing us and moving his operation again. Or it could mean giving him more time and allowing him to create better traps for us…"

"We could try scrying the area," Paige chimed in. "I mean, he's probably warded against that sort of thing, but if we got creative…"

"Yes," Chris agreed. "We definitely should try that, but the risk remains."

He paused and looked up at them, meeting each sister's eyes in turn.

"It's your decision," he then said. "I can help develop the plan and I will certainly fight with you, but you three are our main magical power. So you decide."

Phoebe shared a look with her sisters. They were all tense, very aware of how important this moment was, and even Paige looked completely serious for once.

Then, Hand stepped up to the table, her eyes, too, on the map.

"There is one other possibility," she said quietly.

But Chris shook his head, immediately, as if the same possibility had already occurred to him.

"No," he said. "This is not our timeline, and I won't resort to such measures."

Hand looked relieved, but Phoebe only felt confusion.

"What measures?" she asked, and saw the question mirrored in her sisters' faces.

Chris shrugged.

"We have a very competent assassin in our group," he remarked dryly.

"Oh…" Phoebe let the sound trail off into silence. She hadn't even considered that option.

"I could sneak in, scout the situation and kill him before he knew I was there," Hand said matter-of-factly. "If he wasn't there, I could plant bombs in the main cave and key them to activate when the power of an Elder was near them. That might take a bit longer, but he'd be just as dead."

"No," Chris said again, but his eyes said not yet.

Phoebe felt slightly shell-shocked. Only watching these two, who had both considered assassination as a possible solution to all this, did she realize that it might come to killing Gideon. Up until now, they had only ever planned to catch him and put him before the Elders.

But what if he was too strong for that, or had gathered too many allies? Could she kill a human, an Elder, if it was necessary?

Her eyes strayed towards the conservatory, where Wyatt lay in his playpen, deeply asleep. Gideon would be the cause of Chris' and Hand's future, he would cause uncountable deaths and he would change the world forever. But before that, beyond that, he would hurt her nephew, an innocent child, and kill some part of him forever. He would destroy her family, and all that it stood for. Would create a Wyatt that didn't mind enslaving young girls and forcing them to kill.

And, meeting Piper's eyes and finding the same steely resolve there that she felt, Phoebe decided that, yes, she could kill an Elder, and she would if that bastard so much as reached out for her nephew.

"We'll go," Piper said, calmly and with the full authority of the Halliwell matriarch behind her words. "We confront Gideon, now, and end this once and for all."

Phoebe and Paige nodded. Leo inclined his head, obviously proud of them. Chris looked doubtful still, but nevertheless nodded after a moment, accepting their decision. And Hand looked anything but happy.

"Then let me at least come with you," she said into the thoughtful silence. "You yourself said that you might need the firepower. He could have been gathering demons and darklighters for months, and you might need every help you can get."

Even me, although I know you don't want me, her eyes seemed to add.

But Chris, unmoved by her words, shook his head.

"I can't trust you, Hand, as you've proven only minutes ago," he said curtly, probably referring to the situation with Leo in the kitchen, although Phoebe couldn't begin to say how unfair that was. Either he didn't notice her flinch, or he didn't care. "Not completely, that is. I can't risk taking you into a situation with too many variables. You would need your magic back to be of any use, and I won't risk that either, not without a surefire way that you won't turn on us."

Hand was very pale as she stared at him, and Phoebe felt her own worry being replaced by anger. How could he tell her that, simply throw it in her face after all she'd done for him? Granted, there was still a lot they didn't know about her, but if she hadn't proven her loyalty by now, how could she ever hope to manage it?

The same thoughts seemed to run through Hand's head, for suddenly she nodded, as if having come to a decision.

"Very well," she said, calmly. "If those are your terms."

Suddenly, she dropped to her knees in front of Chris, as she'd done the day she had saved Piper's life, her arms spread out in front of her, her head touching the floor.

"I hereby swear fealty to Lord Christopher," she said, no, intoned, and Phoebe saw shock and something like horror spread on Chris' face. "To follow his orders and obey his wishes, to save and protect him and his family at all costs, to help him fulfil his mission or fulfil it in his stead, to serve him with everything in my power, to hold his code of honour and only use my magic if he so commands. This I swear on my magic, my blood and my life. So mote it be."

A golden light suddenly surrounded her and reached out for Chris, who stumbled back with nothing of his usual grace. It touched him, then encompassed him and shone even brighter, until the two time travellers were invisible in the cloud of magical light.

Then, it vanished.

"What the hell?" Piper said, effectively breaking the mood.

"I second that," Paige said, staring at Hand and Chris as if she had never seen anything like that before. Well, she hadn't, and neither had Phoebe, although she had her ideas about this.

Leo, however, stared at Chris and Hand as if he had seen exactly this kind of thing before, and couldn't believe it had happened again, in their living room.

"She pledged herself to him," he said and, with two big steps was by Hand's side and hoisted her up from the floor roughly. "What were you thinking?" he asked her. "Don't you know what this means?"

Hand freed herself none to gently and stepped away from Leo.

"I do," she answered quietly. "It means that Fox can trust me now, absolutely and without reserve. It means that I can come with you and fight against Gideon."

"It means that he can kill you with a word, you stupid girl," Leo snarled. "Swearing fealty isn't done lightly, and only ever on conditions. You swore on your life! He can do with you whatever he wants now! You are less than a slave to him, and if he decides to…"

To Phoebe's right, Chris made a choking sound and stumbled as if he would fall. His hands gripped the table, knuckles white with tension, and his face… his face…

"Sorry," he mumbled, barely audible. "I… just need a moment here, I think."

Gracelessly, he stumbled over to the sofa and sat down hard. He buried his head in his hands, taking deep, uneven breaths that sounded suspiciously like sobs. But when he lifted his eyes back to them after what felt like an eternity, they were dry and filled with something much more desperate than tears.

"How could you do this to me?" He asked, sounding younger than he ever had before. "You know how I… I never wanted…"

"I know," said Hand, and although she had effectively given up her freedom, she sounded anything but obedient. "But this not about what you want, Fox."

"You cannot do this to me!" Chris shouted, his face twisting, his eyes burning. "I'm not… I'm no Lord! I'm not Wyatt! I don't want people to serve me!"

In this moment, Phoebe was glad that she couldn't feel his emotions. What she saw and heard was quite enough.

"You have no choice about that, Fox," Hand said clearly and calmly. "You are what you are, and if I choose to lay down my life for you, you will have to bear it."

"No," suddenly, Chris was on his feet and pacing through the room, both hands twisted in his hair as if he wanted to wrench his head off. "No, I can't… I refuse to take that oath, Hand. I won't allow it."

"You won't allow it?" With three quick steps, Hand was by his side, reached out and grabbed him by a collar. "And you are allowed to give up your life for your cause? You are allowed to sacrifice yourself over and over again? You are allowed to leave everything behind and travel here, and suffer in silence? And you forbid me to help? Who are you to make these choices, Fox? What gives you the right?"

Something in Chris seemed to break at her words, and with an inarticulate growl, he jammed his arms forward, his telekinesis forcing her away from him and halfway across the room.

Hand fell to the floor, but made no move to defend herself or rise to her feet again.

"You can't stop me," she said. "And I won't stop you, no matter what you do to me, Fox. You need to accept this."

All anger drained from Chris as he watched her lying on the floor. But there were still exhaustion, and fear, and a terrible grief darting across his face as he closed his eyes, half turned away from her and asked, in a tiny, broken voice:

"Why?"

"Because," Hand answered, as if she was the master and he had pledged himself to her. "Now you will let me fight beside you. Now, you will use me to win this fight."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Chris whispered.

He let his head fall forward and his hair shield his face from all of them. He didn't move as Hand rose from the floor, passing the silent sisters and Leo, and softly touched his arm.

"There is no need to fear yourself," she whispered. "You are a good man, Fox. You will do the right thing."

"He thought that he was doing the right thing, too," Chris whispered, still with that terrible, broken voice. "He thought he was protecting his world. What if I have gone bad already, and just haven't noticed?"

And Hand chuckled, warmly and quietly, as if they were sharing a private joke.

"You will never be like Lord Wyatt," she said softly. "You're just not righteous enough, Fox."

His head rose as if against his own will.

"I do not want this, Hand," he said quietly.

"But you will use me," Hand said, as if it was a fact, and after a long moment of hesitation, Chris nodded.

"Yes," he confirmed. "If there is no other way."

And Hand, the girl who had given herself away twice, once under force and once willingly, the girl who could die by his word and would live by his will from now on, Hand smiled as if her deepest wish was finally fulfilled.

A/N: Passchendaele: The site of several battles during World War I, became synonymous with a war of horror that sacrificed thousands of men only to win an inch of ground. It seems likely to me that Chris has studied his military strategy and history (neurotic as he is), so he would know all about it.