Thanks to everyone that's reading!

CHAPTER 36

Sacrifices

As Piper and Leo reformed from the swirl of bright orbs in the middle of the conservatory, the newest member of their family sleeping peacefully in her aunt's arms, they could hear a voices coming from somewhere upstairs. Piper recognized the female as Phoebe, and one of the men as her oldest son, and guessed the other to be her oldest Chris since Wyatt had called him home earlier.

Leo's cry of pain took her from her thoughts, and she turned to him, her face full of fear and worry, "Leo? What's wrong? What's happening?"

"K-kyle," the Elder breathed out.

Piper fell back onto the love seat. Her face was blank, but her eyes were stricken with a pain that appeared so intense that no words could describe its depth. She looked down at the baby, tears falling from her deep brown eyes and onto the child's pink cotton blanket. When the eldest Charmed One raised her head, her face was still emotionless, but stained with tears that wouldn't stop. "She's an orphan isn't she?"

As Leo's pain subsided, signaling the end of Kyle's pain and life, the Elder nodded, his own eyes filling with tears. He wiped them away. Seeing his wife already broken, he knew he couldn't join her in the pit of despair. Someone had to take control. He sat down beside his spouse, put his arm around her. When she leaned her head onto his chest, Leo stroked her hair and tried to come up with any words of comfort, "He and Paige are together now. Looking down on us and their daughter from a much better place."

"A better place?" Piper scoffed, "What about this place? Everyone is dying, Leo. What are we supposed to do? We don't know where Nyru is. We don't know how to vanquish him." She shook her head sadly, "We aren't going to get through this one, Leo. This time it's different. I can feel it."

"Hey, don't talk like that," Leo scolded. "We can't give up. Jason, Paige and Kyle wouldn't want us to. They'd want us to keep up the fight for them." Leo lifted up a corner of the baby's blanket, revealing the sweet, innocent little face, "Someone has to protect the next generation."

Piper bit her lower lip in an attempt to quell her tears and settle her nerves. She turned her attention to the baby and smiled at the tiny little girl, who chose that moment to open her big bright eyes. Piper's breath hitched as she saw her baby sister in the tiny face. It was then that she realized what she had to do.

"They shouldn't have to pay for our mistake," Piper thought aloud. Handing the child to Leo, she moved to the door.

"Where are you going?" Leo asked, suddenly worried about her quick change of attitude.

Piper turned at the door, looking back at him. The look in her normally soft brown eyes, increased his worry. It was the look she and her sisters always got when they were about to do something risky. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to save the kids."

Without further explanation she moved through the door. Her husband could hear her footsteps as she marched up the stairs toward the attic.

Leo looked down at the wide-eyed infant in his arms, "She said for the kids...for you and for your cousins. Not everyone...just the kids." The Elder looked up towards where the love of his life had been standing only a moment before, "Think we should go keep an eye on her?"

The baby blinked.

"Yeah, me too."

Upstairs in Emma's room, Pheobe and Chris were watching anxiously as Wyatt reached into his niece's mind, gently probing for the source of her pain, so that he could help her release it.

"Is it working?" Chris asked his Aunt.

Phoebe nodded, "Wyatt's powerful magically and emotionally enough to handle whatever it is she saw. I can feel him becoming only slightly more upset, while she has become more calm. It should be done soon from the feel of things."

After a moment, Wyatt opened his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to recenter himself. Once he was feeling more grounded he looked up at the adults and both could see the added layer of doubt and pain in his eyes. He swallowed, his voice shaky when he began to explain what he saw, "It was bad. Really bad. Death everywhere. Me. Alex. You two. Dad. Mom. All thanks to Nyru."

"Tell me how they die," Chris ordered.

Wyatt and Phoebe exchanged concerned glances before the Twice Blessed answered, "Well, Alex was supposed to die with the whole Bianca thing. He used his powers too much and the infection killed him. I guess some of the premonition has been altered."

"Go on," the older man urged.

The blonde witchlighter sighed, "Uh, ok...Phoebe was supposed to die from her empathy–again changed. I was supposed to kill myself, but since your younger version pointed out that I was being influenced by an astral projection, I don't see myself falling for it again. Mom was battling Nyru...alone and completely hysterical. She lost."

"I can sense Piper up in the attic," Phoebe answered, "she's actually uncharacteristically calm." She frowned, "maybe I should go check on her."

Chris nodded, "Go. Make sure she doesn't do something stupid."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reprimand him for speaking about his mother that way and for bossing her around, but when Wyatt shot her a look, she closed her mouth again, taking a deep breath to make sure nothing slipped out. "Ookay. Just let me know when Melinda wakes up, until then I'll be with Piper."

After Phoebe had left, Chris gestured for his brother to continue, "Dad?"

"Dad actually had a heart attack. I think he literally died of a heartache."

Chris nodded, absorbing this, "Well, if mom is ok then he probably will be too. More changes. This is good. What about mini-me?"

"Actually, he didn't die. . .he killed an innocent. At least, I think it was an innocent. I just can't believe my little brother–err–you would do that." Wyatt held up a hand before his uncle/brother could question him further, "I didn't see anything else in her mind about him. However, you on the other hand– "

"– It doesn't matter," Chris cut him off, "I don't need to know. I've got all the information I do need for now."

Wyatt frowned, "What do you mean you don't need to know? You die, Uncle Chris. That's kinda something you should be forewarned about. How can you not want to know what happens so you can change it?" The Twice Blessed paused, a light visibly turning on in his mind, "Oh God. You don't care if you die. "

Chris' green eyes grew stormy, his face rigid, "If a sacrifice has to be made, I'm willing to be the one who makes it. I've done it before. So drop– "

"– Mmm...Daddy?" Emma's tiny voice interrupted the conversation. Her blue eyes fluttered open, much clearer than they had been only little earlier.

Chris' face softened only slightly as he moved to his daughter's side, "I'm right here, Emma."

The little girl smiled weakly, "I feel better."

"Wyatt helped you," her father explained.

Emma turned her head to look at Wyatt who was on her other side, "Thanks, Wy."

Wyatt grinned back at his cousin, for the first time realizing that she was biologically speaking his niece. For some reason that made him want to protect her even more than usual. She was his brother's little girl. Weird. Not bad. Just different. He brushed the hair from her face, "Anytime, Squirt."

"Okay, Angel, I'm gonna orb you to your Grandma Cramer's. Your mom and brother are there already," Chris prepped her.

Emma scrunched up her nose, "Why can't I orb myself?"

"Because you don't have any powers any more," Chris answered.

Before she could ask why, before any kind of guilt could set in, the father quickly told her he loved her more than anything then sent her on her orbing way with a reluctant wave of his hand. He never even got to hear her say she loved him too.

Wyatt shifted nervously.

"What now?" Chris snapped.

The Twice Blessed sighed, "Was that really necessary? I mean, Alex and Aunt Anne have got to be fuming, and Emma is gonna be really upset that you bound her powers and sent her away too. I mean, mom always tells us that family sticks together. Didn't she ever tell you that?"

"Yeah," Chris replied bitterly, "right before she died in my arms."

Wyatt's eyes became saucers, his mouth falling open, "Wh-what?"

Chris let out a breath, knowing full well how uncalled for that little comment was. Wyatt was just worried. Rightly so too. Chris could feel himself slipping, and it did scare him. However, in the long run, he was more scared of losing everything he had worked so hard, sacrificed so much for. So, he didn't apologize. He didn't explain.

"Uncle Chris, what are you talking about? Mom...died in your time?" Wyatt shook his head still numb with the news, "How?"

"She didn't die this time. She didn't bleed all over the kitchen or me in this lifetime, so it doesn't matter. What does matter is vanquishing Nyru before he can do anymore damage. We need to take the offensive," Chris answered, trying to forget how it had been Nyru then too that had torn his family to shreds. "The only way to do that is to find him."

Wyatt could only blink at the coldness coming from a man that had helped raise him. He could never in a million years have thought his Uncle so unfeeling. Granted his idea of who Chris was happened to be changing at light speed as of late, but this...it just didn't click. This was a man that had told him and his little brother bedtime stories about far off places and little princes that always saved the day. A man that had chased them around the house when they were kids. Helped them escape punishments from the parents. The very same man that had taught them all they ever needed to know about women. A man who bestowed upon them advice about love, loss and life...so much wisdom shared and all with a gentle understanding. This man that could speak of his own mother's death so nonchalantly? This wasn't the Chris Halliwell he had grown up with.

"I need you to stay here and protect the others," Chris continued, breaking into his younger-older brother's thoughts.

The Twice Blessed frowned, "Where will you be?"

"Getting in touch with some old contacts."

Melinda stirred in her sleep but didn't wake.

"Uncle Chris, I don't think that's a. . ."

"– Remember to let Aunt Phoebe know when she wakes up," Chris reminded the other man before orbing to the underworld.

". . .a very good idea," The young witchlighter finished. Wyatt glared at the spot the other man had been standing just moments before, "I hate when people orb away in the middle of a conversation. It's rude."

000

Bianca took a steadying breath, nervously clenching and unclenching her hands. She was currently trying not to pace in the rendevous point Nyru used when meeting with his minions. It was a large open space in a cavern, well lighted for the underworld's standards. Only a seeing pool and a table with two chairs occupied the area. Bianca recognized her family's grimoire sitting on the table, still opened to the spell she had cast on Wyatt earlier. Nyru hadn't been back since. For some reason, that made her even more nervous.

She glanced over at her companion, who was leaning against the wall, trying not to look scared out of his mind. He would have succeeded with a normal audience, but Bianca's training helped her see and hear what other's didn't. For instance, his eyes were steely, a marked change from his usual mischievous light green, he kept fidgeting his feet and she could hear a slightly different rhythm and depth to his breathing. Still, she had to say she was impressed at the facade he created.

"How much longer?" he asked, noticing her looking at him.

"I don't know."

Chris grinned, "Think we should be in position when he arrives?"

"Position?" the assassin asked archly.

Pushing himself off the wall, the witchlighter moved toward her, the smirk still on his face, "Well, you did turn me evil by seducing me..."

"...so, we should look cozy," Bianca finished for him.

"You having second thoughts? Because if you're not up for this..." Chris added, attempting to push her buttons.

Without warning, she captured his mouth with hers, kissing him with a passion that would have convinced anyone that it was real. Which, although she didn't want to admit it, Bianca thought it might have been. Especially when she found she really didn't want to end the embrace, but rather felt an urge to take it even further. The feelings she had for this mere teenage boy frightened her and excited her but most of all confused her. How could she feel so intensely for someone she had only just met? Especially someone five years her junior. It didn't make sense.

"By all means, don't mind me," a deep, slithering voice said.

The pair pulled apart, and Bianca spotted Nyru's other commander, Gon, one of the mysterious demons he had sanctioned as his personal minions so many years earlier. Gon was the toughest and most trusted of the scythe demons. It seemed Nyru didn't trust Bianca's word alone that she had turned Chris. She gave him a disgusted glance up and down, "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to test the boy before he meets Nyru," Gon answered. "You wouldn't expect our Master to trust a Halliwell, would you? Too dangerous."

Chris stepped forward, exuding a hate that he didn't have to fake, "You wanna test me, Pasty? Then do it and stop wasting my time. I've lived far too long fighting for a worthless cause when I could have been using my magic to have a little fun." He winked at Bianca.

The woman smiled at his answer. The kid was good. He would have made an excellent assassin. "All right, Gon, you heard him. What's the test?"

"To kill a good witch," Gon answered with near glee.

Bianca looked over at her companion, trying to gauge his reaction. His face faltered until he caught her eyes. Then, it was as if he had taken some of her strength because he quickly recovered and nodded affirmative. The Phoenix returned her attention to the scythe demon, "Well, you got your answer. He's in."

"I'll go fetch her. Don't go anywhere," the demon ordered as he shimmered out.

Chris let out a breath, "That wasn't so bad."

"You have to kill a witch, Chris," Bianca argued, "how is that not so bad?"

The witchlighter grinned, "I don't have to kill anyone. Illusions are my forte, remember?"

Before Bianca could respond, the demon had shimmered back in with a pretty blonde in tow. She was struggling in his grasp, crying and screaming for help. Her blue eyes locked on Chris. Bianca noticed something flash on his face...recognition. She swallowed down the sudden dread. Nyru had chosen someone that Chris knew. She knew he had studied all of them, but to what extent she had never known. If he was able to choose someone that he knew for this task, then he must know about the teen's ability to create illusions.

"Go on, slit her throat," Gon said, tossing Chris a dagger.

"Chris?" The blonde croaked, looking horrified and confused.

Chris ignored her, speaking to Gon, "Why can't I just strangle her or make her heart explode? It's less messy, and this shirt is new."

The girl's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

Bianca feared she already knew what Gon was going to say. She ended up being right.

"Because, magic doesn't work in this room. Nyru made sure of it. Didn't want you doing any illusions."

Chris swallowed, looking over at Bianca for guidance. His nerve was slipping fast. He didn't know what to do. If he couldn't use illusions it meant he really had to choose whether to kill the woman to get to Nyru and save his family and probably the world or blow his cover and save her, and winding up killing Bianca's mother in the process. One innocent for another plus whatever other beings Nyru was going to hurt in the future.

"Chris, please help me," the blonde begged.

The witchlighter slowly approached her. He stared down into her sea blue eyes. Took her face in his hands and lightly brushed his lips against hers. It was a soft kiss, slow and meaningful.

Bianca turned her eyes away, unable to watch. Instead, she turned to look at Gon, who still seemed far too overjoyed. What did the demon know she didn't? Was it because he was so confident she and Chris were trapped? That regardless of his decision he got to kill something? Or was there more to the situation? There sure seemed to be given the kiss.

Chris slowly parted, wiped her tears of fear away gently with his thumb. He then moved to whisper in her ear, "I'll always love you, Kat. Please forgive me." And in a flash the dagger moved across her throat, killing her instantly.

The demon applauded, "Well, done. Nyru will be pleased." He turned to Bianca, handing her a slip of paper, "Nyru will meet you both here. The block will be lifted shortly after I leave, then you can shimmer out."

"Where are you going?" Bianca questioned warily.

"I have some business to take care of." Without further elaboration, he shimmered out again.

Bianca turned to find Chris on his knees, holding the still bleeding body of the girl. Blood was everywhere. A puddle around the girl, splatters all over, and most strikingly on Chris' hands. He was crying now that the demon wasn't there to see the weakness. Silently sobbing over the body really.

The Phoenix moved to his side, dropping down next to him, "Chris?"

He stroked the dead girl's face lovingly, blood smearing her perfect peach skin. The witchlighter squeezed shut his eyes, "What have I done? Oh God, what have I done?" He gagged and had to move away, hurling onto the cold hard floor until long after he had nothing left to throw up.

A hand moved circles on his back, "It's ok. Get it all out. You'll feel better."

"I'll never feel better," Chris answered darkly once the urge to heave had subsided. He sat back on his heels. "I'm a killer."

"So am I," Bianca replied, "sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason. It still is wrong, but the other options are even worse. Nyru will destroy your family if you don't stop him. The only way to stop him is to get close enough to do so, and that meant killing her. Besides, you really think she would have lived even if you had decided to try to save her? We were without magic in Nyru's domain. We all would have died, along with my mother and your family."

Chris was still shaking, "You don't get it. She wasn't just some girl to me. Some faceless, nameless somebody. I just murdered my first love."

"I'd say sorry but I doubt you want to hear that right now, so I won't."

The young man didn't say anything, merely staring at his dead lover, trying not to let himself be over come by his emotions again. It was hard as all the memories he had of the young woman came washing over him, replaying over and over like some old movie set on a loop. Her smiling at him. Her teasing him. Her kissing him. Them making love for the first time. . .

". . .I will tell you to get a grip and fast though."

Chris' head whipped up, not having expected that, "What?"

"If you don't, her death will have been in vain." She extended a hand to help him up, "We have to go meet Nyru. I suggest you channel the pain, turn it into anger and take it out on him when the opportunity presents itself."

Chris nodded in agreement, but even as he wiped off his face with the back of sleeve and he and Bianca shimmered out to meet with Nyru, he felt broken. Numb. Like nothing mattered anymore because everything he had once believed about himself and about the world had just been shattered and all the king's horses and all the king's men wouldn't be able to put Chris Halliwell back together again.

tbc. . .