Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the television show Charmed. All characters belong to Spelling Television, and The WB.

This is my first Charmed fic. I apologize if I get any of the show's details wrong. I'd love to get feedback! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far. Please continue to review the story or e-mail me at jeff_langdon@hotmail.com!

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Anguished Soul - Chapter 5

"Hey," Chris greeted her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably.

"I came by to apologize." She was startled by his honest admission. "I was a complete jerk this morning. I'm sorry."

Now this wasn't what she expected. She was sure that Chris would come up with some lame excuse or something, but certainly not this.

The lack of response from Paige caused a worried expression on Chris' face. "Uh.can you at least say something?" he asked in an uncertain voice. "Please?"

Then the words started coming out of Paige's mouth before she even had a chance to realize what she was saying. "So what took you so long to come and apologize? I mean, you had a whole day and it took you this long to figure out what a total jerk you are? I know you're a little slow, but this is ridiculous!" A horrified expression made its way to Paige's face as she realized what she just said. "Oh my god I can't believe I just said that!!" she thought.

A brief look of shock registered on Chris' face before he looked down to the ground with a small smile. The smile grew somewhat when he met Paige's eyes again. "I guess I deserved that, didn't I?" There was no anger in his voice. There was no sarcasm either, which Paige found rather unsettling.

"No, not really," Paige whispered, not really knowing what to say and still thoroughly embarrassed by her outburst. "I may have overreacted somewhat."

Her comment was met with a chuckle from the Whitelighter. "Anyway, I still figure that I deserved every word that you said. But can we call it even now?" he smiled. "I mean, I really don't want to get beaten up by the fearsome Charmed Ones."

Paige laughed at the comment as she pictured Piper, Phoebe, and herself beating up poor Chris. "Yeah, I guess we can call it even. And for the record, I'm sorry for the things I said."

"Apology not needed but I'll accept it anyway," he answered good-naturedly. "You're more forgiving than I had expected. And to think I spent the whole afternoon preparing a peace offering." Only now did Paige realize that Chris had kept one hand behind his back all this time. Paige couldn't hide her look of surprise when Chris revealed a beautiful bouquet and presented it to her.

"Oh my god, they're beautiful."

"Is it safe to assume that you'll accept this peace offering?"

The conversation was interrupted as Phoebe finally emerged after getting tired of waiting for Paige to return. "Are you two quite finished yet? Oooh! Very nice flowers!"

"Don't even start with you smart comments," Paige warned her sister.

"All I was about to ask was how long you planned to keep poor Chris standing outside."

Paige quickly moved aside and invited the young Whitelighter into the manor, embarrassed yet again at how silly she must have acted.

"So how was you day, Phoebe?" Chris asked, trying to give Paige some time to recollect herself.

"Busy as usual," Phoebe commented as she got retrieved her tea. "It's always work, work, work."

Chris was about to comment when he suddenly had a very strange feeling. His body tensed as he tried to figure out what was going on. "Phoebe! Paige!"

"What's wrong?" Phoebe asked as she emerged from the kitchen.

"Chris?" Paige asked when the Whitelighter remained silent.

"It's them."

"Who?" Phoebe and Paige asked at the same time.

"Tekenogs."

Before the two witches had a chance to ask another question, the building shook and a wind blew through the house. There standing before them were two Tekenogs.

"Meet your doom, Charmed Ones," one of them said.

"Only two of you today?" the other one sneered. "This will be easier than I thought."

"It's not like the Power of Three can defeat us," the Tekenog laughed.

"You pathetic creatures won't know what hit you," Phoebe taunted as she unleashed her power.

Paige stared in shock as the demons brushed aside Phoebe's attack. Not only were they not affected, but they redirected the attack back to Phoebe, sending her flying across the room and crashing against the wall.

"Phoebe! Are you okay?" Paige yelled as she rushed to her sister's side. As the demons advanced towards them, Paige prepared to unleash her own attack.

"No!" Chris yelled as he restrained her.

"What are you doing??"

Chris quickly unleashed a strange light from his hands, and it temporarily blinded the demons. "It won't do any good! They'll just absorb your powers and use it back against you."

"What?? Then how are we going to kill these things?"

"You can't," Chris answered grimly. "You have to get out of here." At that moment, two more Tekanogs appeared, essentially surrounding them.

"Chris, orb us out of here!"

"I can't. If we do that, they'll follow you and you still won't safe."

"Then what are we going to do? Just stand here?"

Chris bent down to help Phoebe to her feet. "Are you okay?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine. But what are we going to do?"

Turning to Paige, he quickly formulated a plan in his head. "I'm going to distract them. When I give you the signal, you and Phoebe get out of the manor through the opening that I'll give you."

"And how are you going to get out?"

"I'll join you once I've dealt with the Tekanogs. Go find Piper and Wyatt. Make sure they don't come back to the manor until I meet up with you."

"You're all doomed," one of the Tekanogs threatened as it regained its eyesight. It unleashed a fireball towards the witches but was countered by an energy ball from Chris.

The Whitelighter quickly unleashed another attack, temporarily immobilizing two of the demons. "Go!! Now!!" he yelled as he turned his attention to the other two Tekenogs.

"Be careful, Chris!" Paige called out before running from the manor with Phoebe. Once they were safely out of the Tekenog's sight, Paige orbbed them to a quiet side street on the other side of town close to where Piper and Wyatt were doing their shopping.

After walking for a minute or two, they located Piper and Wyatt in the supermarket parking lot. "Fancy seeing you two here," Piper said she loaded the groceries into the trunk of the car. "Get in, I'll give you a ride back home."

"Can't," Paige replied. "We can't go back."

Piper narrowed her eyes at that comment. "What exactly do you mean we can't go back?"

"The manor is under attack," Phoebe answered, finally recovering from her encounter with the Tekenogs.

"By what?" Piper yelled, not caring that she was in a public parking lot.

"Don't ask, it's not pretty," Phoebe answered.

"So why did you just leave? Wouldn't it make more sense to kill them?"

"We can't. The demons absorb our powers and then use it back on us."

"Wonderful," Piper bemoaned. "And just what are we supposed to do now? Roam the earth and hope they never find us? And where the hell is Chris? What good is a Whitelighter who doesn't show up when needed?"

"He's actually back at the manor fighting the Tekenogs," Phoebe answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh good. Leave the manor to him. I bet you he's in cahoots with the demons to get you out of the manor."

"What?" Paige exclaimed, not believing what she had just heard.

"He's risking his life to save us, Piper," Phoebe answered, just as annoyed at hearing those comments from Piper.

Before the argument could escalate, Chris orbbed in and rejoined the sisters.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked with a concerned look.

"Won't be okay for long if we don't get a move on," he answered. "We have to get out of here and away from the city before anyone gets hurt." Chris grabbed Phoebe's hand and orbbed to a field away from the city. Paige followed quickly with Piper and Wyatt.

They barely had time to catch their breaths before the four Tekenogs appeared. "There's nowhere to run, Charmed Ones."

"Even your Whitelighter won't be able to save you now," announced another.

"Stay behind me," Chris instructed as he stepped in front to shield his charges. He met the power of the Tekenogs with his own as they battled for supremacy. The four demons, combining their forces, overwhelmed the young Whitelighter as one of the Tekenogs struck Chris with its powerful arms, sending him crashing against a tree.

"Chris!"

"Stay away," Chris called out to the witches as pain surged through his body. The young Whitelighter launched another attack but was easily rebuffed by the demons. Together they manhandled Chris like a rag doll, slowly dismantling him before the Charmed Ones' eyes. Another energy ball crashed into Chris as his limp body flew through the air and landed several feet from Paige.

Paige rushed to his side, praying that he was okay. "It's no use, Chris. They're just too strong," she admitted with resignation.

The sinister laughter of the Tekenogs grew louder as they smelled victory.

"Power of Three," Chris whispered, his voice coarse and weak.

"It'll just absorb it and use it back on us, remember?" Phoebe joined in.

"Only if the power comes directly from you," Chris corrected.

"What do you mean?"

"As long as you channel the power through some intermediary, it'll have an effect on them."

"Okay, but what or who would be stupid enough to act as the intermediary? They might as well go and commit suicide," Phoebe grimly observed.

Chris didn't answer and just looked at the three witches. "Absolutely not," Phoebe answered when she realized that Chris meant. "We are not using you to channel our powers. Do you even know what could happen to you if we did that?"

"Do you know what would happen if you don't?" Chris asked, his voice too weak to sound sarcastic. "It's your only chance."

"No," Paige said. "This is too dangerous. There's no telling what would happen if we tried this."

"We have no choice, Paige," Chris pleaded. "Don't fail the future again. You don't know what it's like to live in a world ruled by demons. I'm begging you."

Reluctantly, the Charmed Ones did as Chris requested. They helped the Whitelighter to his feet before channeling the Power of Three through him, none of them knowing the consequences of their decision.

~ to be continued ~