Title: Between a Book and a Hard Place
Author: Kimmy
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimers: I own dead squat.
Warning: A little slash.
Author's notes: I wrote this in late December and it had been just sitting on a floppy ever since. So, I thought I might as well put it up. I don't know if I'm actually gonna finish it since I don't really remember where I wanted to go with it. Oh, well. Maybe I'll get inspired in the next couple days.
*****
Chris sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. As he took a sip of his rum and coke, he scanned the room for any wayward demons. P3 was a little quiet that night, filled with mostly regulars. Some danced to the crap the DJ was putting out, others talked and drank. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Charmed Ones hang out on a couch that occupied a far corner of the club. He considered walking over, but he quickly thought better of it. Now that Paige and Phoebe had moved out, the girls hardly saw much of each other anymore, save for the occasional vanquish. They needed this time alone together. After giving the room one last scan, he finished his drink and prepared to leave. Just as he was getting up, however, a good-looking man sat down next to him.
"Buy you a drink?" The man asked, his eyes admiring Chris' pretty form.
"Not interested." Chris stated flatly, getting off his stool.
"Come on... If you won't have a drink, then how 'bout a dance?"
"Not to this junk and not with you." Chris bitched, a little annoyed now.
"How 'bout I ask the DJ to change the song? Dance with me then?"
Chris sighed. "You're very persistent, aren't you?"
"You have to be if wanna get what you what." The man explained, wiggling his eyebrows.
Chris gave up and smiled. "Fine, I'll dance with you. Just don't do the eyebrow thing. Only Mr. Big on "Sex" looks hot doing that."
"Heh. You're kinda bitchy, aren't you?" Questioned the man as he lead Chris to the dance floor.
"It runs in the family."
****
Across the dance floor, at the sister's couch, Phoebe showed off her newest tattoo.
"You tattooed your boyfriend's name on your ass?" Piper asked incredulously.
"Well, I wanted another one and I was out of ideas. But don't you just wuv it?" Phoebe baby talked.
"Not really..." Paige snarked, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I like it." Pouted Phoebe.
"That's all that matters then." Piper grinned in a forced sort of way.
Phoebe narrowed her eyes at her sisters. "Sometimes I wish you guys hadn't drunk that potion so I could still feel you."
"Well, we don't." Replied Paige.
"Yeah, we really don't." Added Piper.
"Hmph." Grumbled Phoebe.
Paige snickered a little and looked out at the crowd. "Pretty good turn out tonight."
"Yeah, not bad for a Tuesday." Piper said. "Oh, and there's Chris... Grinding his crotch into another guy's ass?!"
"Heh. You owe me ten bucks." Paige smirked in Phoebe's general direction.
"Yeah, yeah..." Phoebe dug into her bra and pulled out a bill for Paige.
Piper raised an eyebrow. "You guys had a bet going?"
"Yeah, I just had a feeling about him." Paige said, stuffing her winnings into her own tit sling.
"And I thought Phoebe was the empath..." Piper said, now slightly amused by it all.
"Just goes to show there's just no substitute for good, old-fashioned gaydar."
"Ain't that the truth." Said Phoebe.
Piper glanced back where Chris had been dancing. "Oh, he's gone. I wonder where he went."
Phoebe looked around. "Oh, there he is! He and that guy are going into... the storage room..."
"Boy's faster than I am." Remarked Paige.
Piper got up. "He is *not* having sex in *my* storage room!"
"Leave him alone, Piper. It's not like he's the first one to use that room for that." Phoebe said, trying to calm Piper down.
"What?!"
Phoebe and Paige just took sips of their drinks and tried not to look at Piper in the eye.
"Oh, my God..." Continued Piper, mouth agape.
"Um, sorry?" Paige said, not very convincingly.
Piper just stared at them. "You both are *so* cleaning that room tomorrow!"
Paige and Phoebe just kept looking away.
*****
"Are you sure about this, Wyatt?" A leather-clad young woman asked her master.
"Yes... While this book is quite useful to me, I can most certainly do without it."
"I didn't mean that... What I meant was --"
"Oh, I know what you meant, but the curse won't affect me. My ties with this book are pretty weak. My power, everything thing that I am, comes from me. From me and me only. His powers, on the other hand, are tied to the Book. Whatever happens to the Book of Shadows, will happen to him. Slowly -- but surely -- my curse will consume this book and so him, and the only way for him to be cured, is to come home."
"But what if it spreads to the Book in his time?"
Wyatt grinned. "Then all the better. If the curse spreads to the book in the past, so it will to the sisters, and if I know my little brother, he won't be able to stand to see what happens to them. In order to save them, he'll have no choice but to come back. Either way, he'll return."
"You miss him, don't you?"
Wyatt glared at her.
"It's not my place. I'm sorry."
"No, it's not, but it's all right." He caressed her cheek with his hand, making her shiver. "I forgive you."
"Wyatt..." She whispered wantonly.
"But first, business before pleasure." Wyatt laid his hands on top of the book, blue waves of energy crackled and flowed from them. The book glowed the same shade of blue as Wyatt's power took hold of it, making it yield under his power, accepting his curse unto its pages. Wyatt withdrew his hands and the book physically returned to normal. He turned to his minion-slash-lover and lead her down to his bedroom. The triquatra on the Book of Shadow's cover glowed blue.
****
"You know, I don't even know your name." Chris stated breathlessly to his would-be lover.
"Liam." He replied, getting down on his knees and undoing Chris' pants.
"Liam, nice name!" Chris exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling.
Chris received no reply as the sound of molecules slowing down filled the room.
"Liam? Why'd you... Liam?" Chris looked down to find him frozen. "Liam? Did I freeze you?" Chris looked at his hands. "But I didn't throw a freeze, so how...?" Chris quickly tried to unfreeze him, but to no avail. He dislodged himself from the other man, and pulled his pants back up. Chris paced around the room as he tried to figure out what was happening. "Okay, Chris, you've frozen guys for your own sexual pleasure before, this is no different." He said laughing nervously to himself. "No, this *is* different! I didn't throw a freeze! This just doesn't make sense!" As Chris mumbled, Liam's freeze wore off.
"Whoa... What the hell happened?! How'd you get over there?"
"I, uh... I can explain." Chris said as he defensively raised his hands in the air. A case of beer that laid behind the other man, blew up simultaneously. Liam simply freaked and made a mad dash for the door. Chris looked at the beer now spilled on the floor and at his hands. He wondered just what the hell had just happened.
