Haunted Past

They had a new name for him in the underworld, the Shadow Stalker, and he'd actually laughed when a lesser demon whispered it in fear the day before Not only was it melodramatic but he was now the thing that stalked the shadows and brought fear. Demons had meetings and nightmares about him now. It was a bit of a power trip and, as he put his gear away after a night of hunting, he smirked. Then the look just as quickly fell off his face, he was going to have to pull back a little. Being the scourge of the underworld was good and all but the more of a name he made for himself the more it would get back to the Elders and with them the sisters. He wasn't amassing a power base but from the outside, it could look that way and he already had enough to deal with, he didn't want that kind of scrutiny too.

Chris eyed the futon he'd finally put together for those nights when he just didn't feel like waiting for the club to clear out so he could sleep and then groaned. He knew the sisters would all be at the club tonight to celebrate some kind of new achievement in Phoebe's illustrious journalistic career and if he didn't at least put in an appearance he'd hear about it for weeks. So he orbed into a deserted part of the parking lot and greeted the bouncer as he walked inside. The club was loud as always, which didn't bode well for finding any rest, and he saw the three laughing at the bar.

"What are you guys talking about," he asked walking by them, deciding to do a drive-by, his voice as tired as the rest of him.

"Stuff," Phoebe said with a smile that gave him the general idea of what their conversation had been about.

"Hey, where are you going?" Paige asked, turning to look at him as he continued on his way to his room.

"I gotta go work on the next demon" he caught himself and looked sheepish, he really must have been tired "...stration."

"Chris, why don't you relax and have a drink with us?" Phoebe asked leaning across the bar her face imploring. This was her party after all and there was something else in her eyes too, a look of knowing. He didn't like it.

"Thanks," he said with a nod and a dismissive quirk of his lips. "But I didn't come here to relax."

He turned away from them before they could say anything else and weaved his way to his door. If he couldn't sleep he could at least do some more research, his last few hunts had been a complete bust. He was really starting to rethink his ideas about the whole situation. Could it possibly not have been a demon that changed Wyatt or was he missing something? Clearly he was or his mission would already have been over. His thoughts all stopped dead in their tracks though as he flipped on the lights to see the last person he'd ever expect sitting in a chair.

Bianca.

His legs felt like they'd been cut out from under him and he swayed slightly. She was here. The last time he'd had any kind of word on her he'd been convinced his brother had her. Now she was here, safe and sound and without a scratch on her. A far better vision than the one that had been in his nightmares of late.

"Bianca..." Chris murmured, his tone almost reverent as he looked at the woman he'd loved for years. She smiled as she stood and like magnets, they moved to one another. "I don't understand. What are you doing here?"

"Shhh," she said quietly placing a finger on his lips and he was enthralled by the look in her eyes, "There'll be time to explain later. But for now..."

Her voice was teasing and he smiled as he leaned in to kiss her, her hand drifting down his chest. He was so happy that she was here, safe and alive, that he completely ignored the warning bells that went off in the back of his mind half a second before something plunged into his chest. His whole body jerked upwards and his gaze flew down to find her hand sticking straight through him. In shock, he gasped up at her and felt his mouth go dry at the look in her eyes. They were vacant, devoid of any recognition or feeling.

He knew that look, she'd been programmed.

He convulsed as he started to slide down the wall, his magic being painfully ripped from him as his heart shattered. She hadn't gotten away from his brother and he'd broken her. Likely, Wyatt had spent every day of the last few months torturing the woman before him until she'd finally cracked becoming nothing more than a drone with shadows of the person she used to be. This was the play Chris had been preparing for and his brother had still surprised him with the depths of his depravity.

"Hey, Chris, you know, all work and no -" Piper said cheerfully as she walked into the room, and then she stopped, blinked, and yelled. "Hey!"

Bianca immediately pulled out her hand causing Chris to cry out and she tried to throw an energy ball at his mother. Piper didn't even give her the chance to wind up before she blew his attacker apart and he slid to the ground with another cry of pain, breathing hard.

Piper ran over to crouch next to him, her face worried, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he lied as he ground his teeth and tried to slow his breathing, "I think so."

"What happened?" she asked, giving him a hand up and he leaned heavier than he would have liked on her. "Who was she?"

"I don't know," he lied and, from the look on Piper's face, she didn't quite believe him.

"Right," she nodded and then stormed off before he could say anything else.

He leaned against the cabinet and breathed hard, tears gathered in his eyes. How could he have let this happen? He should have saved her or brought her to the past with him. Done something! He hit the locker hard in a fit of temper and had been about to orb to his hideout to lick his wounds when all three sisters came running into the room. Immediately he stood straighter, trying to hide his moment of weakness, and before he could say a word Paige orbed them all to the attic, and Leo was called.

He felt like a caged animal as they discussed his attacker and he paced back and forth every few minutes, unable to stand still, "Is that the mark?"

"No it looked more like a bird," Piper said as she leaned over from her seat to see the picture.

"A bird?" Paige asked with a teasing smile, continuing her search, "So you're saying maybe the Audubon society sent the demon after us?

Piper gave her sister a flat look, "Just keep looking."

"Guys, I'm telling you, I'm fine," He snapped, folding his arms to hide the fact that his hands were starting to shake. He'd already been feeling tired before he'd had his magic drained, "Don't sweat it."

"You sure she wasn't a Darklighter?" Leo asked, eyeing him critically like a doctor with a difficult patient and he rolled his eyes before turning away.

Piper nodded, "I'm sure."

"What else would be after a whitelighter?" Phoebe asked curiously from her perch on the armrest of Piper's chair.

"I dunno, that's what worries me," Leo said thoughtfully still watching him and for a moment Chris wondered if this was genuine concern and not suspicion for once.

"She's gone, Piper blew her away, what's the big deal?" he asked the room at large. He needed to lie down and he needed to do it soon.

Phoebe looked shocked that he'd be so dismissive of his own safety, "The big deal is someone tried to kill you, Chris."

"Look at me. Not a scratch, nothing!" he cried gesturing with an energy he didn't have and then bit his tongue as he felt the pendant Parker had given him catch painfully on the wound on his chest.

"Yeah, how did she get that close to you anyway," Leo asked with a raised eyebrow, ah, there was the suspicion. So much for that daydream, "if you didn't even know who she was?"

Chris paced away from them and the floor under him creaked loudly. It was as good a distraction as any, "You really ought to fix that, you know."

"Come on, Chris," Leo said undeterred. He was trying to be coaxing but there was too much distrust in his voice for it to be anything other than threatening. "Who's after you?"

"Has it crossed your mind that maybe she wasn't after me?" Chris countered and then gestured at the sisters, "Maybe she was trying to get them."

Paige shrugged, "Kinda makes sense."

"Finally," he cried, throwing up his arms dramatically, "Someone's listening! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to take care of."

That said he stormed out of the attic before anyone else could bring up an argument to make him stay. At the base of the stairs, he leaned against the door frame and took a few deep breaths before staggering to the bathroom. Once inside he pulled open his shirt and looked at the large burn-like indentation in the center of his chest. He took a few more centering breaths before pulling off his pendant and sticking it into his pocket. Once he figured out how to heal the wound he'd put it back on but for now, it was more annoying than useful.

Inside the pocket, his fingers knocked something circular and he pulled out the ring he always kept somewhere on his person. It'd been a symbol of hope that was now simply a reminder of a fact he'd foolishly let himself forget. Nothing good ever lasted. He smiled sadly at it and then looked into the mirror at his worn reflection. He needed to get somewhere safe for the night and see what he could do about healing the wound she'd left behind, as well as the magical infection he could feel still draining him.

His orb to the hideout was sloppy and he collapsed against the entrance stone breathing quickly. His chest burned and he whimpered as he curled in on himself, hidden in the shadows of the night around him. It was late December now and while it never got overly cold in this part of the country there was a distinct bite in the air. The chill helped cool down his fevered skin and he rubbed his face before pushing himself to his feet again. Once inside he pulled out his bottle of H2G and with a bracing breath downed the contents. The reaction was instantaneous and he screamed as the potion took effect, crashing to his knees as he started to gag.

In seconds the healing potion came back up as he vomited before his arms gave out. Then he felt his spine seize up and his vision went dark. It felt like no time at all had passed when he blinked his eyes open again slowly and carefully pushed himself up. His chest was one big throbbing sore and he groaned as he got shakily to his feet. He'd been afraid of this, it's why he'd taken the potion where no one could walk in on him. There were very few things that H2G didn't at least help but apparently a half-completed magic drain was one of them.

It took him a while, too long in his opinion, to get from the training room into his workroom. There he tried several different magical salves on his wound but nothing worked. Finally, he gave up on the idea and wandered out of the hideout again, he knew what he needed to do. This magical virus was tied to Bianca and she was the only one that could help him. Outside, the sun was bright in the sky and he realized he must have been unconscious for longer than he'd thought. That frustrated him, who knew what Bianca had been up to since the attack. Not wanting to waste any more time he orbed drunkenly onto the seat of a bench in an ornate park, a peaceful place that held so many memories.

"You really shouldn't try to orb anymore, you know?" Bianca said casually as she sauntered out from behind the angel statue at the back of the garden. The irony of that wasn't lost on him and it warmed him a little that he'd been right about where she'd be. "It could kill you."

"Is that what you want," he asked his voice strained as he gripped his chest.

"If that's what I wanted you'd already been dead," she said almost laughing and she moved to circle around him. "All I want is to bring you back."

Chris finally looked at her, "How did you know I'd be here?"

"Same reason you knew I'd be waiting here," she said, her voice almost mocking, and he bit the inside of his cheek, "I mean, this is still our spot...isn't it?"

"No." he shook his head, eyes glassy but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing his tears. He wouldn't give it to Wyatt either, "This is what we hoped it would be. This is what we were trying to preserve for our future, remember?"

"We were naive to think we could change anything..." she trailed off and her eyes became distant before they snapped back into focus, "to stop him."

"You don't believe that," he countered and then he sighed, "or at least you didn't."

"Well I do now," she snarled as his comments challenged her programing and tugged at something still buried in her damaged psyche. He could just barely feel his Bianca buried and suffocated under everything that had been done to her and he winced.

"What happened to you Bianca," he whispered as he tried to reach out to that part, "how did he turn you back?"

"That's not important," she placed her foot on the bench so she could lean into him while still having the advantage if he chose to fight her. His caring words brushed away, "What's important is that I was interrupted in stripping you of your powers, and if I don't finish what I started, you'll die soon. Think of it as an infection, and I'm the only one with the antidote."

"Here or there I am dead anyway," he muttered mournfully and closed his eyes as another wave of pain passed over him.

"No. He gave me his word he wouldn't hurt you," she said standing up again and he swallowed thickly, there were more ways to die than the physical. He didn't think his brother would intentionally kill him, but he could, and would, destroy his mind and soul. The only reason he hadn't done it already was that the only time Wyatt had been in a position to do it he'd still been convinced Chris would see 'reason'. His brother wouldn't make that mistake again, "Now, please, Chris. Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

She lunged for him and he orbed away again before she could touch him. He could feel his consciousness waning, fading away into nothingness again and he needed somewhere safe to go. He wanted somewhere safe and all he could think about was the manor. It would have been wiser to head to his hideout but he was sick, in pain, and really at that moment, like so many since his fourteenth birthday, he just wanted his mother. No matter how childish that was, he didn't care. His powers gave out just as he landed and the last thing he knew he was saying Bianca's name and people were running toward him.

0ooo0ooo0ooo0

Chris's eyes opened slowly and he couldn't shake the calm, almost drugged, feeling that permeated every part of him. He remembered the last time he'd felt like this, the day he'd awoken to find himself in a prison. It took him longer than it should have to remember why he was like this and when he did he groaned and rolled on his side to burrow into the blankets and pillows he was twisted up in. He was just about to slip back into dreamland when the sound of paper rustling caught his attention in the silence around him. Carefully he just barely opened his eyes to see his brother sitting on a chair next to the bed, legs propped up on the edge. He looked quite comfortable like he'd been there for a while, flipping through the sketchbook on his lap and drinking what looked like coke out of a cup. Most days Chris would have killed for the drink, having been denied it for months now. According to his brother, a completely healthy diet was required for someone in his living conditions. Which meant the only times he got anything even remotely junk food-like was on holidays or when his brother was feeling particularly happy about something.

"I know you're awake and also that you don't want to be," Wyatt looked over at him, "I can put you back under or you can get up, it's been twelve hours so it's your choice."

Chris frowned from his nest of blankets and Wyatt smiled at him. He was sure he looked very much like he had when he was younger and being stubborn about getting up for school. For a moment he considered the idea of sleeping for a few more hours and then pushed it aside, Wyatt had been unsupervised in his room long enough.

"When did you see a deer?" His brother asked, looking down at a rough draft of an anti-tracking ward he'd been developing over the last few weeks. He couldn't seem to get the symbols for it quite right but he was getting close. It also apparently looked like a drawing of a deer to everyone else.

"I dunno, shit passes the windows all the time," he grumbled rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, speaking the truth after a fashion. He wasn't sure where those windows looked out to but the area was definitely booming with wildlife.

"Hmm," his brother flipped another page and there was something about his demeanor that started to make Chris wary. There was a tension there, like a lion waiting to pounce on its prey. Could his brother see through the spell? The one on the books had worked wonders but was this one not? "Chris, what happened in the bathroom?"

"Huh?" he didn't even have to feign confusion and his brother, still looking at the drawings, picked up something from the bedside table. It was a piece of his shattered mirror, this could be bad, and so he tried for nonchalant to defuse the situation, "Oh, that…I was practicing my telekinesis and well - no big right?"

Wyatt, still not looking at him, flipped the piece over and he could see the bloodstain on the foil attached to the back. He'd gotten cut many times in many different places over the last five months he'd been working with the stuff, none of them were serious or bled overly much, but they had bled. The results had made it worth all the pain though, "They all look like that."

"So I cut myself on some glass I was cleaning up, so what," he asked flippantly and he moved to stand but his brother's hand pushed his still drained body back down onto the bed.

"It didn't look very cleaned up to me," Wyatt looked him in the eye and tapped the stain with a fingernail, "This is old blood Chris, the rest look the same, I will ask you once more before I get upset, what have you been doing?"

"I told you, practicing my telekinesis," he snapped, knowing Wyatt could feel the truth in those words. His brother glared at him, then back to the glass, and Chris knew at least one of his many secrets was out the second Wyatt's eyes snapped back to him. The look in them a combination of anger, worry, and interest.

"With the glass?" His voice was high and he sounded very much like their mother when she'd caught one of them being naughty as young children. "You've been practicing with the broken glass."

He ducked his head with a sheepish half-smile on his face, if he was careful, he could get out of this relatively unscathed. It would certainly distract his brother from the sketch pad. "Pain is a good motivator to do it right the first time?"

The disbelief in Wyatt's bright blue eyes would have been comical in any other setting and he waited for the other shoe to drop. But instead, his brother took a deep breath and then tossed the jagged object into the air where it was consumed by fire and faded away, Chris was sure the rest of them were the same. Then he raised his hand and made the mirror across from the bed fade out of existence. He wanted to say something but considering his only punishment so far had been to lose the glass he wasn't going to push. The exercise had outrun its usefulness anyway, he needed something heavier to further his technique.

"You're not going to see me for the next two weeks, I have a lot to do," Wyatt said after a moment of just glaring at him. He seemed both annoyed and regretful about that, "However after the solstice, I should have a lot more free time, which means we can focus on refining your abilities together. So no more hare-brained stunts like that one, am I clear?"

Chris nodded his head enthusiastically, more time with his brother outside of this room was always a plus, "What's going to keep you so busy?"

"I'm planning on rooting out and ending the resistance in the underworld," he took a sip of his soda as he glared at the wall across from him. "I've had enough of their games and after yesterday, I'm out of mercy too… I am sorry about that."

"Why would you be…" he started to ask but the guilty look his brother gave him told him more than words could have. Chris threw himself out of bed and stared at him, he would have never thought his brother capable of this, "You knew?!"

"Did I know he was a traitor and planned to attack you? Yes. Did I know about the ward? No." He stood as well and walked up to Chris who stepped back when he tried to grab his shoulders. Wyatt was having none of it and placed his hands on the sides of his brother's face quickly so he couldn't get away. "I'd never knowingly put you in a situation like that. I wanted to give you a chance to stretch your legs and fight against an opponent you wouldn't worry about hurting. I was planning on getting there when he got to be too much for you. It's a mistake I won't let happen again. You did a fantastic job, little brother."

"It felt like I picked a fight with a hacksaw, and lost," he snarled and pulled away to sit with his legs drawn up on the lounger by the window. His brother let him go, let him sulk, and finally, he turned back to the older boy. "How would you know anyway?"

"The room has illusion spells on it so I can replay my sparring and training sessions to see where I need work, where you need work now too," he smiled down at the unsure boy, "I'm very proud of you. You were efficient with the underlings and strategic with the leader. Though I am curious, where did you learn how to dispel a ward like that?"

Chris hesitated and then his best excuse came to him from a half-remembered conversation the night before. Really it wasn't that big of a stretch of the truth, his mother's death had inspired him. He shrugged under the blonde's watchful eyes, "After…you know, I looked it up. I didn't want that to happen again."

Wyatt beamed at him and then pulled him into a weak headlock to ruffle his hair, "You always were a forward thinker."

His brother's pride made him wonder what he would think of the wards, spells, and dimension designs he'd created to fight him. If he knew of the lengths his 'baby brother' was going to subvert him, would he be proud then? Would he tell him he'd done a good job then? Chris highly doubted it, and in a lot of ways, he hoped that day would never come. He loved his brother too much to be hated by him.

0ooo0ooo0ooo0

A familiar voice echoed in the room around him and within the space of a blink, he found himself almost a decade older and laying on a couch. Above him, Bianca's face came into focus and she smiled sweetly at him as he came back to himself. Very quickly the happiness he'd felt upon hearing her voice faded away as he realized his situation. Somehow she'd found him and finished her work while he was unconscious. He glared up at her helplessly, his hurt turning into rage. Anger was always better than sorrow.

"What'd you do to me?" he asked with a snarled undertone to his voice.

She scoffed, "I just saved your life."

"By taking away my powers?" he asked with narrowed eyes and she sneered at him before standing up and pulling a portrait off the wall. "How are you going to bring me back anyway? That spell's a one-way door. It only goes backward in time."

Bianca began drawing a familiar symbol and he ground his teeth, "He created a new spell because of you, one that works both ways."

Chris rolled his eyes, of course, he had. Wyatt had never been one to do things by halves, "I'm touched."

"You should be," she said and the way she said it told him she wasn't joking, she truly thought he should be grateful. He was disgusted, what had Wyatt done to skew her sense of reality this much? "He's gone through a lot of trouble to get you back."

"Yeah," he said, his voice heavy with emotion, "I can see that."

"You know, you don't have to believe me, Chris," she turned around, obviously frustrated by his inability to understand. "But this really is for the best."

"Oh, really?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "How's that?"

"Because this is your only chance to live," she took a few steps toward him in temper. "If I fail, he'll just keep sending more assassins back and all they'll have to bring home is a body."

So that was it. Wyatt had convinced her, against all Chris had told her, that he'd be killed. Not only that but that he'd let someone else do it. That if she didn't do this he was going to die. It was a lie of course. Wyatt had fought him and seen him fight, he more than knew what assassins he could send would fail. There were only so many demons he could trust to travel into the past and none of those, save maybe Azulon, were powerful enough to beat him. That was why he'd been focusing his training the past few weeks to fight the demonic secretary and then his brother just had to surprise him again. He'd sent Bianca, the only person his brother had access to who could get close enough to hurt him. He wanted to stand up and shake her but he felt weak enough at the moment to be knocked over by a feather. Her programming was good, some of the best he'd seen, and he only had one idea left that might break through it.

"Doesn't matter, there's nothing left in the future anymore, anyway," he lied as he threw her engagement ring on the table so that she could see it.

He'd done it in an effort to shock her but it didn't work and she looked more disdainful than upset by his action. In fact, she didn't even acknowledge it with words, she knew, better than anyone else, that the statement was ridiculous on its face. Chris put his head against the couch backrest deflated and closed his eyes. He couldn't get away, not like this, so the only thing he could do was gather his strength while she completed her task.

"You really expect me to jump into this thing like before," he asked, raising from his prone position when she was done.

"Not without a fight," she smirked, "no."

He dropped his arms and snarled as he paced away from her and she let him. They both knew he couldn't leave, "How can you be so cold? How can you just stand there and pretend like we never meant anything to each other."

Bianca sighed, "I don't have a choice."

"Bianca, please don't do this," he begged, almost about to get down on his knees if it would help her see sense. Only he utterly refused to give Wyatt that kind of power over him, he couldn't afford to not matter how his heart hurt, "don't give up on everything that we fought for."

"I'm not," she said, nodding to herself, her eyes growing distant and he realized this was another part of her programming. His brother had given her a hope that he controlled, "I'm just hoping we can find another way, ready?"

"Hey! Future girl!" He heard Piper yell and they both turned around to see her throwing a potion vial at them.

Bianca reacted almost without thought, throwing a dagger that destroyed the potion. Piper, also reacting quickly, froze the blade and Bianca shimmered to it, plucking it out of the air, and held it to her throat. "You were saying?"

"Wow," Phoebe said with mild amazement, "she is good."

"Ah, Ah!" Bianca mocked as Paige moved forward to help her sister, "I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it."

"Yeah," Paige said back just as condescending, "but we still have enough potion to vanquish you."

"Maybe," Bianca agreed then she smiled, the look on her face devious, "But then you really will have to hope the power of two will do, won't you, Paige?" She snorted as the redhead drew back surprised, "Oh you'd be surprised what's in the history books. Now, put the vials down slowly."

"Bianca, don't," he ordered and refused to shift nervously, he wasn't sure what she'd be capable of like this. She wasn't exactly in her right mind, "Let her go and I promise I'll go with you."

"Chris, what are you doing?" Paige hissed but he ignored her.

"If you kill her, there won't be a future for either one of us to go back to and you know it." He said putting enough weight in his words that they finally broke through her fight or flight induced aggression.

Phoebe looked exasperated and she gestured outward with her hands, "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see if you live long enough," Bianca said with a smirk and let Piper go so that she could walk back to him and grab his hand.

"Piper," Paige cried as they started to walk away, "freeze them!"

His shoulders dropped but he didn't turn around like Bianca did to look back at them, "Aah! Ok, I get why she didn't freeze but why didn't he freeze?"

"Un-unless he's-he's a-" Phoebe shuttered having already put it together.

"I'm a witch too?" He asked as he turned around and the looks of shock on their faces would have been comical in another situation. "That's right, part witch, part whitelighter. Just like you, Paige."

"You lied to us?" Paige gasped, betrayal etched on her features.

"I had to," he sighed, his voice almost pleading, he so badly wanted them to understand why all of this subterfuge was necessary. "It was the only way I could get you to trust me."

"Trust you?" Phoebe said looking disgusted and he shook his head. No, he supposed they never really had trusted him, had they.

"Never mind," he said, defeated, "it doesn't matter anyway"

"So that's it?" Piper asked and she looked honestly surprised, "You're just gonna leave?"

"I don't have a choice. She's stripped my powers," he said defensively. Then a mad, crazy idea occurred to him, one he knew had very little chance of working. "Looks like Leo's gonna have to fix that floorboard without me. Let's go."

He wanted to get out of here before Bianca realized what he'd done and he could only hope that the sisters did. As he walked forward he took one last look at the three women who'd raised and loved him as they were in this time. Alive, well, and generally happy if not a bit worried about him. Then he was blinded by a flash of light and felt the now familiar sensation of being dragged into the flow of time.

End Part 1

The Breath Before

Next Time: The storm descends.