CHILD OF THE WHITELIGHTER
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The kiss seemed to go on forever, but it was really only a few seconds before Caiti broke away from Chris, stunned at what she had done, and ran out of the garden towards the house. Chris orbed out of the garden and appeared behind Caiti on the steps, and reached out, grabbing her arm and saying, "Wait a minute, Caiti. Can we talk?"
Caiti turned to face him and said, "What is there to talk about? I've only known you a day and I kissed you. I've never kissed a guy I've only known for a day and I feel horrible about it. I also feel really bad about the fact that I enjoyed the kiss, so now that I've told you everything, there's nothing to talk about!" Before she could protest, Chris pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, this time longer than before. This time, Caiti did not pull away, instead choosing to stay in his arms and enjoy the kiss, and she felt it was over too soon when Chris let go of her and said, "Well, you're not the only one who enjoyed the kiss," before orbing inside the house. Caiti stood outside for a few moments thinking about what had just occurred, and then went inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Caiti reached the living room, she looked around for Chris, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Dad," Caiti asked, "Where's Chris?" "He left a few moments ago, he said that you were calmed down and that he was leaving for the night," Leo replied. "He didn't say where he was going, did he?" Caiti asked. "No," Leo said, "Why?" Caiti thought about Chris and the way he had kissed her on the steps and said, "No reason. I just wanted to ask him something, nothing important." Leo nodded and orbed out of the room and into the kitchen with Phoebe and Piper. Paige looked at her queerly, but said nothing. Phoebe and Piper didn't notice what Paige noticed, and neither did Cole and Leo. When Caiti asked her question, Paige noticed that she seemed a bit more flushed than she had been when she left, and that she seemed more disappointed than one should be when their whitelighter leaves, but she said nothing. "Let them find out for themselves," Paige thought, "I have no business in this, even if she does like Chris, and even though I know that they were out in the rose garden kissing. When Caiti decides to tell them, she'll tell them.
Caiti paused, and in her head, she heard Paige's voice. It took her a few moments to realize she was hearing Paige's thoughts. "She knows," Caiti thought, "She knows all of it."
Before Caiti could go upstairs, a man with a bow and arrow appeared behind her. "Caiti!" screamed Paige, "Look out, behind you! A darklighter!"
Caiti turned, but she was too late. The darklighter had already fired, and the arrow struck Caiti in the chest. Caiti gasped and fell to the ground. Cole caught her as she fell, and called, "Leo! Piper! Phoebe! Come quickly, it's Caiti! She's been shot by a darklighter!" Phoebe and Piper ran in and shouted "Oh my god, oh my god." Leo orbed in and looked at Cole, who was on the floor holding Caiti, who had an arrow sticking out of her chest, in his arms. "What happened to her?" Leo asked, kneeling by his daughter's body. "He came from behind her," Paige said, "I tried to warn her, but she turned around too late, and he hit her." "Put her on the couch Cole, then go and try to find the darklighter who did this," Piper said, "Phoebe, get a blanket, and after you do, go with Cole. Paige, Leo, try to find Chris and bring him back with you. I'll stay here with Caiti." Cole picked Caiti up and carried her over to the couch; Phoebe covered her with a blanket, and then left the room with Cole and Paige. Leo sat down by the couch and began to stroke Caiti's hair, saying, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll find the bastard that did this to you, and he'll pay. But first we're going to go find Chris. We'll be right back. In the meantime, you keep fighting, OK? You hold on, and we promise we'll help you." Kissing her forehead, Leo orbed out, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at his daughter, lying nearly lifeless on the couch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Leo was in the living room with Caiti, Paige had been scrying for Chris, and when Leo came back into the room, she had his location and was ready to go. They orbed out of the house, and ended up in the middle of P3. "That was fast," Paige said, looking around the room, finally spotting Chris at the bar, and pointed at him saying, "There he is, let's go get him." Paige and Leo orbed in behind Chris, and when Chris turned around, he jumped and said, "Where the hell did you two come from?" "We came from the house," Paige said, "We need you to come back." "Why?" Chris asked. Leo turned away from Paige and Chris, unable to speak. "She's been hurt," Paige said softly, "By a darklighter. We need you to come back to the house with us to help us heal her." "Why couldn't the two of you do it yourselves?" Chris asked. Leo became enraged and turning to Chris, grabbed him by the shirt collar and said, "The arrow went in below her heart, you bastard. The injury is too great for Paige and I to take care of on our own. She could die if we don't help her." Chris' face fell, and he thought of the kiss that he had given Caiti on the steps, and how he had walked away from her afterwards in anger, and he said, "OK, I'll come along, but you're gonna have to let me go, OK?" Leo nodded and let go of Chris, and the three of them orbed back to the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caiti opened her eyes, and looked at Piper. "What happened?" she asked weakly. Piper shushed her and said, "Don't talk, dear. You've been shot by a darklighter's arrow." "That means I'm dying then, doesn't it?" Piper's eyes filled with tears, and she said, "You don't have to. Your dad and Paige have gone to find Chris, and they should be back soon. Is there anything you want right now?" "Could you put the radio on?" Caiti asked, "I want to hear some music." Piper nodded, stood up, and went over to the radio, and turned it on. The first notes of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" floated into the living room, and Caiti smiled and closed her eyes. Piper went back over to her and sat down. Paige, Leo, and Chris orbed into the living room, and Chris, taking one look at Caiti lying near death on the couch, dropped to his knees with anger. "Come on Chris," Paige said, near tears herself, "We have to save her." "Piper," Leo said, "Remove the arrow." Piper nodded and said, "You might want to come over here and hold her hand or something, it's going to be painful." Chris said, "I'll do it, if it's OK with Leo. I mean, if I hadn't walked out, she probably wouldn't have come in the living room and been shot." Leo didn't know what he meant, but he nodded and said, "Go ahead."
Chris walked over to the couch where Caiti lay, and took her hand, saying, "Caiti, can you hear me?" Caiti opened her eyes and said, "Chris? I." "Shh," Chris said, putting a finger on her lips. "Don't talk. Piper's going to take the arrow out of you, but it's going to hurt. If you want to squeeze my hand, go ahead," he said, holding his hand out to Caiti, who weakly took it. "Now Caiti," Piper said gently, "You need to roll onto your right side so I can take the arrow out." "Why not just pull it out?" Caiti whispered. "Because the poison will work faster that way, and we don't want that," Leo said quietly. Caiti rolled onto her side, still holding onto Chris' hand, and as Piper pulled the arrow out of her, she screamed. Tears began to appear in Leo's eyes, and he turned away so he couldn't watch his daughter's suffering. Chris stroked Caiti's hair and said, "It's over Caiti, the arrow's out." Caiti looked at Chris and said, "I enjoyed the second one better than the first," attempting a weak smile. Chris smiled with tears in his eyes and said, "I'm glad to hear it." "Chris," said Caiti. "What is it?" Chris asked. "That was my first kiss," Caiti said before she gasped and went unconscious. "She's dying!" Chris said, "We need to help her, now!" Leo and Paige rushed over to the couch, and the two of them and Chris placed their hands over the wound, and began to heal her. "What's taking so long?" Chris asked. "She's been hurt pretty badly," Leo said, "It'll take a while to heal her, but she should be fine soon." Minutes passed that seemed like hours to Chris, when suddenly Caiti gasped and said, "What-what-what-what happened? Where's the arrow?" She reached down and touched the spot where the arrow was, and found that it was gone, as was the hole the arrow had left. Leo smiled and said, "Welcome back Caiti." Caiti sat up and hugged her father saying, "It's good to be back." She then looked at Chris and said, "Can I have a moment in here alone? I need to ask Chris that question now." Piper and the others nodded, and they walked out of the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Cole and Phoebe found themselves in a biker bar near the freeway, looking for the darklighter. Cole looked around the room, and his eyes rested on a huge, hulking man with a bow and arrow. He turned to Phoebe and said, "There's our man." The large man left, and Cole and Phoebe followed him outside. He turned around suddenly with his bow and arrow poised to fire, and said, "We'll be back for her, and next time, we'll succeed," but before he could do anything, Cole had thrown an energy ball at him, which hit him in the chest, causing him to burst into flames. "He's done," Cole said, "He won't be coming back." "But what about what he said?" Phoebe asked. "We'll worry about that later, after we get back to the manor," Cole said, and grabbing Phoebe's hand, they shimmered back to the manor to tell Piper and the others what the darklighter had said.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Charmed characters, although it would be nice to own Leo. (wink wink) The characters Caiti, her friends, and her mother Jeanne are my own creation; please don't use them without asking me first.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The kiss seemed to go on forever, but it was really only a few seconds before Caiti broke away from Chris, stunned at what she had done, and ran out of the garden towards the house. Chris orbed out of the garden and appeared behind Caiti on the steps, and reached out, grabbing her arm and saying, "Wait a minute, Caiti. Can we talk?"
Caiti turned to face him and said, "What is there to talk about? I've only known you a day and I kissed you. I've never kissed a guy I've only known for a day and I feel horrible about it. I also feel really bad about the fact that I enjoyed the kiss, so now that I've told you everything, there's nothing to talk about!" Before she could protest, Chris pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, this time longer than before. This time, Caiti did not pull away, instead choosing to stay in his arms and enjoy the kiss, and she felt it was over too soon when Chris let go of her and said, "Well, you're not the only one who enjoyed the kiss," before orbing inside the house. Caiti stood outside for a few moments thinking about what had just occurred, and then went inside. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Caiti reached the living room, she looked around for Chris, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Dad," Caiti asked, "Where's Chris?" "He left a few moments ago, he said that you were calmed down and that he was leaving for the night," Leo replied. "He didn't say where he was going, did he?" Caiti asked. "No," Leo said, "Why?" Caiti thought about Chris and the way he had kissed her on the steps and said, "No reason. I just wanted to ask him something, nothing important." Leo nodded and orbed out of the room and into the kitchen with Phoebe and Piper. Paige looked at her queerly, but said nothing. Phoebe and Piper didn't notice what Paige noticed, and neither did Cole and Leo. When Caiti asked her question, Paige noticed that she seemed a bit more flushed than she had been when she left, and that she seemed more disappointed than one should be when their whitelighter leaves, but she said nothing. "Let them find out for themselves," Paige thought, "I have no business in this, even if she does like Chris, and even though I know that they were out in the rose garden kissing. When Caiti decides to tell them, she'll tell them.
Caiti paused, and in her head, she heard Paige's voice. It took her a few moments to realize she was hearing Paige's thoughts. "She knows," Caiti thought, "She knows all of it."
Before Caiti could go upstairs, a man with a bow and arrow appeared behind her. "Caiti!" screamed Paige, "Look out, behind you! A darklighter!"
Caiti turned, but she was too late. The darklighter had already fired, and the arrow struck Caiti in the chest. Caiti gasped and fell to the ground. Cole caught her as she fell, and called, "Leo! Piper! Phoebe! Come quickly, it's Caiti! She's been shot by a darklighter!" Phoebe and Piper ran in and shouted "Oh my god, oh my god." Leo orbed in and looked at Cole, who was on the floor holding Caiti, who had an arrow sticking out of her chest, in his arms. "What happened to her?" Leo asked, kneeling by his daughter's body. "He came from behind her," Paige said, "I tried to warn her, but she turned around too late, and he hit her." "Put her on the couch Cole, then go and try to find the darklighter who did this," Piper said, "Phoebe, get a blanket, and after you do, go with Cole. Paige, Leo, try to find Chris and bring him back with you. I'll stay here with Caiti." Cole picked Caiti up and carried her over to the couch; Phoebe covered her with a blanket, and then left the room with Cole and Paige. Leo sat down by the couch and began to stroke Caiti's hair, saying, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll find the bastard that did this to you, and he'll pay. But first we're going to go find Chris. We'll be right back. In the meantime, you keep fighting, OK? You hold on, and we promise we'll help you." Kissing her forehead, Leo orbed out, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at his daughter, lying nearly lifeless on the couch. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While Leo was in the living room with Caiti, Paige had been scrying for Chris, and when Leo came back into the room, she had his location and was ready to go. They orbed out of the house, and ended up in the middle of P3. "That was fast," Paige said, looking around the room, finally spotting Chris at the bar, and pointed at him saying, "There he is, let's go get him." Paige and Leo orbed in behind Chris, and when Chris turned around, he jumped and said, "Where the hell did you two come from?" "We came from the house," Paige said, "We need you to come back." "Why?" Chris asked. Leo turned away from Paige and Chris, unable to speak. "She's been hurt," Paige said softly, "By a darklighter. We need you to come back to the house with us to help us heal her." "Why couldn't the two of you do it yourselves?" Chris asked. Leo became enraged and turning to Chris, grabbed him by the shirt collar and said, "The arrow went in below her heart, you bastard. The injury is too great for Paige and I to take care of on our own. She could die if we don't help her." Chris' face fell, and he thought of the kiss that he had given Caiti on the steps, and how he had walked away from her afterwards in anger, and he said, "OK, I'll come along, but you're gonna have to let me go, OK?" Leo nodded and let go of Chris, and the three of them orbed back to the house. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Caiti opened her eyes, and looked at Piper. "What happened?" she asked weakly. Piper shushed her and said, "Don't talk, dear. You've been shot by a darklighter's arrow." "That means I'm dying then, doesn't it?" Piper's eyes filled with tears, and she said, "You don't have to. Your dad and Paige have gone to find Chris, and they should be back soon. Is there anything you want right now?" "Could you put the radio on?" Caiti asked, "I want to hear some music." Piper nodded, stood up, and went over to the radio, and turned it on. The first notes of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" floated into the living room, and Caiti smiled and closed her eyes. Piper went back over to her and sat down. Paige, Leo, and Chris orbed into the living room, and Chris, taking one look at Caiti lying near death on the couch, dropped to his knees with anger. "Come on Chris," Paige said, near tears herself, "We have to save her." "Piper," Leo said, "Remove the arrow." Piper nodded and said, "You might want to come over here and hold her hand or something, it's going to be painful." Chris said, "I'll do it, if it's OK with Leo. I mean, if I hadn't walked out, she probably wouldn't have come in the living room and been shot." Leo didn't know what he meant, but he nodded and said, "Go ahead."
Chris walked over to the couch where Caiti lay, and took her hand, saying, "Caiti, can you hear me?" Caiti opened her eyes and said, "Chris? I." "Shh," Chris said, putting a finger on her lips. "Don't talk. Piper's going to take the arrow out of you, but it's going to hurt. If you want to squeeze my hand, go ahead," he said, holding his hand out to Caiti, who weakly took it. "Now Caiti," Piper said gently, "You need to roll onto your right side so I can take the arrow out." "Why not just pull it out?" Caiti whispered. "Because the poison will work faster that way, and we don't want that," Leo said quietly. Caiti rolled onto her side, still holding onto Chris' hand, and as Piper pulled the arrow out of her, she screamed. Tears began to appear in Leo's eyes, and he turned away so he couldn't watch his daughter's suffering. Chris stroked Caiti's hair and said, "It's over Caiti, the arrow's out." Caiti looked at Chris and said, "I enjoyed the second one better than the first," attempting a weak smile. Chris smiled with tears in his eyes and said, "I'm glad to hear it." "Chris," said Caiti. "What is it?" Chris asked. "That was my first kiss," Caiti said before she gasped and went unconscious. "She's dying!" Chris said, "We need to help her, now!" Leo and Paige rushed over to the couch, and the two of them and Chris placed their hands over the wound, and began to heal her. "What's taking so long?" Chris asked. "She's been hurt pretty badly," Leo said, "It'll take a while to heal her, but she should be fine soon." Minutes passed that seemed like hours to Chris, when suddenly Caiti gasped and said, "What-what-what-what happened? Where's the arrow?" She reached down and touched the spot where the arrow was, and found that it was gone, as was the hole the arrow had left. Leo smiled and said, "Welcome back Caiti." Caiti sat up and hugged her father saying, "It's good to be back." She then looked at Chris and said, "Can I have a moment in here alone? I need to ask Chris that question now." Piper and the others nodded, and they walked out of the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Cole and Phoebe found themselves in a biker bar near the freeway, looking for the darklighter. Cole looked around the room, and his eyes rested on a huge, hulking man with a bow and arrow. He turned to Phoebe and said, "There's our man." The large man left, and Cole and Phoebe followed him outside. He turned around suddenly with his bow and arrow poised to fire, and said, "We'll be back for her, and next time, we'll succeed," but before he could do anything, Cole had thrown an energy ball at him, which hit him in the chest, causing him to burst into flames. "He's done," Cole said, "He won't be coming back." "But what about what he said?" Phoebe asked. "We'll worry about that later, after we get back to the manor," Cole said, and grabbing Phoebe's hand, they shimmered back to the manor to tell Piper and the others what the darklighter had said.