Warning: Slash ahead. I also do not write linearly.
This is a flashback to Chris and Alex's life before she was captured by demons.
Cliffside Sanctuary
Morning found Alex still in a deep, sated sleep and her companions on a real ocean cliff looking out into the distance. Bianca and Chris could already see the streaks of smoke and smell the burning city.
There were loud booms now and again, signaling that the city was once more caught up in the Warlock Clan wars. Chris would not doubt that a couple of those loud booms were caused by Wyatt, lending his strength and support to whichever clan he felt would gain him the most strength and power.
And in the middle of that war, people, citizens, innocents were dying.
And San Francisco, once a Mecca for witches trying to find a place to live in peace, had become a death trap for them.
Chris held Bianca to him, her warmth and solidness a comfort. Their fellow knights were there, hiding, hoping to gain allies and rescue those they could. They too would be heading back into the city later, changing off with those tired and sapped. But for now they were safe, well fed, and happy.
Bianca was the first one to broach the subject. "We should leave Alex behind," she said with conviction. She was quite surprised to not hear Chris object.
"Yeah," he said.
"Chris, are you ok? You just agreed with me about Alex?"
Chris signed, turning to face where Alex was, she was now throwing up into the sand. It was starting to be a common occurrence and he was getting quite worried about her. Chris pointed her out to Bianca and they started climbing down the hillside, still talking.
"I know. She will kick our asses when she finds out we're not gonna take her but I'm worried. Her nightmares are getting worse and she wakes up every morning shaking in fear. And she's getting worse at telling reality from dreams."
"I know you don't want to but it may be worth the risk. We could take her to see one of the doctors in the city."
"No, no, too risky. She just needs some time out of the city. The last mission was really hard on her, if we just let her be, she'll find her way."
"And will she keep finding her way? I know you grew up with her but I'm really worried. And another thing, while we're on our mission, who's going to take care of her?"
Chris smiled. He had already started formulating a plan. "Bridget will watch over her. She's due back soon. And Walsh. He's gotten a little sweet on Alex."
"Walsh? The same Walsh whose life's ambition is to get as much music, cookies and sex as he can Walsh?!?"
"One and the same."
"I'm going to rip his arms out and beat him to death with them."
"Whoa, whoa there tiger," Chris stopped in his decent to face his girlfriend. "I think you got the wrong idea. Walsh would be good for her."
Bianca tried to interrupt but Chris kept going.
"He can watch out for her and he already knows she's crazy. And as much as I love Alex, I can't keep going like this forever. I, mean, two women? You wear me out as it is. And while I know I don't actually share blood with her, she's been my sister since I was 8 and it's a little creepy."
Bianca looked at him with bemused disagreement. Like any of that would really sway the libidinous white lighter. And it wasn't like they all three were together all of the time. Bianca was no catholic school girl and enjoyed the woman's company quite a bit. Clothed or not clothed.
"Look, she deserves her own happiness," Chris sighed. "Like what we've found. I love her but I'm in love with you. I love you." Chris pulled Bianca into a deep embrace.
The sound of Alex throwing up again pulled them apart and they resumed their decent. Bianca did have one last thing, though, to add. "Fine, Walsh can have our permission but he's only allowed to first base." At Chris's protest, Bianca continued. "Second base. We gotta make sure she likes him first. You will need to explain to him the difference between second base and short stop. And give him the shovel talk."
"Shovel talk? You mean where we beat him half to death with a shovel if he hurts her?"
"No, shovel talk, as in the shovel I'll make him use if he hurts her to dig his own grave, then we beat him to death with it."
"Ouch."
Bianca agreed with Chris's assessment.
The two had reached Alex who was shaking like a leaf in high wind and was as pale as the sun bleached sand. The two warriors and friends helped her up and brought her back to the cliff encampment.
Inside were many people, some stirring in the morning light, others still sleeping. They would mostly stay inside the cliff illusion, only venturing out to collect different foods.
Though there wasn't much need to collect any today. Quinton had come back with supplied and a couple of tired refugees. Those were tucked away back in the cave sound asleep from their adventures. Markus, Petra, and another half-breed child, Meg, were curled up together for warmth. Liz was dotting on her two children, back from their tour of duty with their father.
Chris and Bianca settled Alex near Liz and Mary, another young mother. Chris's poor sister was curled up in on herself, crying a little. When anyone tried to comfort her, she'd just shake them off.
Walsh was tending to coffee on the fire, his eyes glued on Alex. Despite knocking off a couple bottles of the strong stuff by himself, he was perfectly fine to meet the day. "She ok?" Walsh asked Chris worriedly.
"Yeah, just the dreams getting to her. He plopped down next to the small fire, eyes intent on the coffee. Walsh smiled, pulling the pot off and pouring his friend some of the sludge. Chris only took half a cup and cut it with some water. Taking a deep drink, he smiled at his friend.
"Bianca and I are going on a mission later. We won't get back for a while. We were wondering if you could keep an eye on her for us."
"Me?!"
"Yes, you. And let me remind you that if you hurt my sister…"
"Yeah, yeah, you'll hold me down while Bianca rips out my arms." Walsh smiled big and threw his arms around Chris, giving him a big hug. Chris had to juggle a bit, trying to keep the sludge - er - coffee from spilling.
"Man, I can't thank you enough," Walsh pushed them back into the sand in his enthusiasm.
"Don't thank me yet. She comes with rules, you know. You can't go past second base and am I going to have to defuse you first?" Chris thrust up his hips, meeting Walsh's growing pants. He grinned lasciviously as he groped Walsh's butt. Walsh blushed.
"You are a sick man, really sick." But it was good natured. They kissed lightly. Very few knights would pass up the opportunity for mutual pleasure. Their world was so full of darkness and evil that a lot of the stigmas got left behind. They were willing to grab onto happiness with both hands, goosing the whole time.
"Hey, what can I say? I not only sleep with my sister, I pimp her out too."
Walsh rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the fire. "Pimping her would be letting me get a home run but I understand. And she's not really your sister. Though you being a Halliwell, I wouldn't put it past you."
Chris covered Walsh's mouth, looking around to see if anyone noticed.
"Do not say that name here. It's Perry. Christopher Perry. And don't you dare slip up like that again or I will beat you to death with your arms before your date with Alex."
Walsh only nodded, readily agreeing. He knew he just fucked up big time. Very, very few people knew Chris was actually the Tyrant Wyatt's little brother. Those who did know, Chris could (usually) trust implicitly. Those he couldn't, well, they weren't around anymore to breathe a word.
While Chris was a huge figure in the opposition of Wyatt, those who found out could still take their anger and frustration out on the younger man. They could use Chris as a bargaining chip to win favor with Wyatt, since he had orders out for his brother's return.
Though as Chris Perry, he was a minor person with a price on his head like so many of the rebels and the Knights of the Wandering Claddaug.
"Listen, I'll give you a full update before I go and I know you'll take good care of her." Chris glared threateningly. It didn't have any affect on the smiling man- at least until Bianca came over, kneeling behind Chris, throwing her arms around her boyfriend.
She didn't even have to glare at Walsh to make him gulp and turn away.
"I guess you told him the news," Bridget said brightly. "Is there anything I should go over? Second base verses short stop? The shovel and his disembodied head?"
"Haven't gone thru all that yet, love," Chris said, kissing his girlfriend's hand. "Just gave him the news."
"I'll fill him in. Quinton is heading out once he's gotten some food in him. Bridget found a nest of refugees that we'll have to evacuate. Unfortunately we're out of clocking potions so we're headed out to grab some and then do some relocation."
Chris cursed. "Give him the low down. I'll check on Alex. I'll tell her that we need a bunch of clocking potion batches. With her memory, she'll know which ones we already used and she can easily come up with some more variations."
Chris got up with a Bianca smiling wickedly as she started telling Walsh what infractions would cause bone fractures.
Alex had calmed down by then and Chris easily pulled her into his arms. "You ok?"
She nodded.
"We could go into the city, find a doctor. There's a few in mind I know would help." Even though he'd told Bianca no on the doctor idea, he had to broach the subject with Alex.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'll be ok. If I can just fight it, fight the visitations, they'll fade away like shadows in the sun."
Chris sighed. Alex had been having nightmares since before Chris knew her at the group home. They had been an occasional thing in her youth but had grown frequent in the last couple months. These dreams always left her upset and now were leaving her quite ill. If it were not for the Charmed Ones doing a total investigation into his sister's dreams, he'd wonder if they were some how magical.
But they weren't.
They were just repeating memories of a frightened child who could not remember how she'd shone up at the hospital, covered in blood and screaming her head off. The trauma of whatever she had suffered permanently addled her mind. Chris tried to help her as much as he could but sometimes he thought he was slowly watching his sister die in front of him. Recently her moments of lucidity were getting less frequent.
Chris hugged his adopted sister to him tightly. He was worried that one day he'd loose her altogether, the stress of the war finally taking her totally away. He didn't know if he was strong enough to face that day, even though it seemed to be rapidly approaching.
"Bianca told me that Quinton found a nest of refugees. We'll be heading out to evacuate them soon."
Alex's eyes got big. She loved hearing they could help more people from under Wyatt's thumb.
"We'll need a bunch of new clocking potions and spells. Walsh agreed to help you mix some up. He knows where he can get new ingredients. We'll need several different batches."
"You mean; I'm not going with you?" Alex asked.
"Yeah. We really need those clocking potions and you're the best." Chris gave her a warm smile. Alex really was the best. She was adept at mixing different potions to mask magical trails. She was even working on one that could disguise magic from scanning probes. So far it would work only half the time and had to be taken fresh each day.
Of course, the major need of clocking potions was to rotate them around. If one of the potions was deciphered and broken by Wyatt's forces, it wouldn't leave all the refugees and rebels exposed. The rebels, the major ones in the fight would have 2 or 3 masking potions, sometimes special ones keyed to them individually by blood.
Alex was pouting. "I know you're leaving me behind." Chris didn't deny it. He knew it would be useless because she'd already figured it out.
"Look, your nightmares are getting worse. I don't want to risk you."
"You mean you don't trust me."
"I do! I just…"
"Don't trust me. It's ok. My head's been put in a blender. It's gonna get worse before it gets better. Really bad."
"Alex, what do you mean?"
"I don't know. I just know its going to get really bad soon so be careful."
Chris sat and thought a while. If his cousin Portia wanted to send a warning, she usually got a message to him, not Alex. But maybe his shields and such were up too much. Being Wyatt's brother, he'd developed strong shields to keep out intrusions. When he was younger, Wyatt had invaded his dreams trying to get him to turn into a power hungry tyrant as well.
"Ok, I'll be careful. I'll give the others the warning as well. And please listen to Walsh. He'll keep an eye out for you."
"Oh, really?" Alex asked suspiciously. They smile at each other, hugging tightly and exchanging a few kisses. "Please, big brother, take care of yourself. Come back safe to me; and Bianca too."
Chris rested his forehead against Alex's, tangling his hands into her wild hair. It needed a good combing and several of the braids redone.
"I will, I promise," Chris whispered, holding her to him. Since his mother's death it was hard, very hard to let go of anyone he loved, to not have them nearby and under his watchful eye.
Chris knew it was Bianca before she even got her arms around them but apparently Alex hadn't been paying attention and startled when the woman joined them. This worried Chris, letting him know that he made the right decision. Alex had to be totally aware of her surroundings otherwise it could get her killed, or worse, captured.
"We've got to go, Alex. You'll be good for Walsh?" Bianca asked with a slight frown of worry.
Alex snorted. "You mean Walsh will be good for me. Hopefully you two haven't scared him too much." Alex exchanged kisses with Bianca. "Please be careful. Watch each other's backs."
Bianca exchanged a look with Chris, knowing that they would both be extra wary and alert on this mission. They would have to change their plans slightly. They would be taking both Nixa and Bridget with them. The young blonde hunter had returned with Quinton during the night. Quinton's sons were also going to be staying behind now. Keeping them safe was much more important then using their abilities to evacuate the refugees.
The trio hugged tightly, Alex's eyes squeezing out tears. There was a grunt behind them and a very sad Quinton said, "We really need to get going. I'm worried, the fighting is getting closer." In the distance there was still the occasional loud boom.
The fighters had rejuvenated during the night, during the cease fire and were now battling it out once again. Chris and Bridget nodded, turning away for a few quick kisses.
"Take care, lover," Bianca said as she winked at Alex.
Chris blushed bright crimson.
No matter that everyone knew; it still embarrassed Chris to hear his girlfriend and sister referring to each other like that.
Alex responded with an equal farewell. "Give them hell, lover. Give them hell," she said, moving off reluctantly to Walsh's side and started talking of potions and supplies.
The two warriors quickly filled Quinton in on Alex's warning. His kids were disappointed they couldn't join but were very eager to help protect this sanctuary while the knights headed off. Despite being tired from her nights hunting, Bridget was more then ready to head off and help.
Quinton raised his arms, the darkness in the back of the cave seemingly to grow darker and the assembled party stepped thru the portal. Quickly, the warriors were gone.
