Chapter Two

Later that night Chris orbed back to the manors living room, giving his Grandfather quite a shock.

"Oh! Chris!" Victor exclaimed, bringing a hand to his rapidly beating heart "You scared me!"

"Sorry." Chris muttered in response as he ran his hand through his messy brown hair- he always did that when he was frustrated or angry and Victor instantly knew from this small gesture that something was wrong.

"It's okay. You know me, I'm just some boring old man who can't get used to the way you magical people travel." Victor replied, grinning, in an attempt to lighten Chris' mood. Chris tried to smile back, but found it near impossible. Instead he gave a loud sigh and flopped down on the couch next to his Grandfather. "Where were you? What happened?" Victor asked, hoping Chris wouldn't mind discussing what was bothering him.

"I was 'up there', talking to the elders." Chris began quietly "They wanted to assign me more charges, and I told them that I didn't want anymore- because I have a life to live too- unlike the rest of them, I'm not dead. But they wouldn't listen...so starting tomorrow I have three more charges on top of the two I already have."

Victor stared at his grandson in disbelief "They can't do that to you! Isn't there someone else who can take them?"

"Evidently not. There have been quite a few darklighter attacks lately so numbers are low. And I think they enjoy torturing me..."

"Damn whitelighters. I've always known that they were good for nothing, sneaky-" Victor trailed off as he caught sight of the expression on Chris' face. "I mean other whitelighters, not you of course." He added quickly "And technically you're only half Whitelighter."

Chris scoffed. "That doesn't seem to stop them; evidently I'm Whitelighter enough to have way too many charges."

"Well, can't you just refuse to do it?" Victor asked, trying his best to be helpful.

Chris began to fidget with the arm of the couch "No. I wouldn't do that, it's unfair to the witches I've been assigned to protect. It's not their fault that the elders are over working me."

"Oh, good point" Victor mumbled, feeling horribly ignorant about the situation. "When do you get to meet them?"

"I'm meeting two tomorrow morning, and the other tomorrow night." Chris' eyes widened as he realized what he had just said. "Damn it! Tomorrow night!"

He exclaimed angrily, "I had a date with Bianca tomorrow night."

He stood up and began to pace around the room- it was another of his nervous habits. "Ruining my life already" he muttered "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

"Chris, why don't you change your date to Sunday? I'm sure she'll understand." The old man cut in, trying to think of a solution before Chris got any angrier. He had seen what kind of damage the boy could do when he was mad, and he wanted to avoid it at all costs.

"Fine." Chris groaned "But I'm sure that this is only the start. How am I supposed to manage a relationship and five charges!?"

Victor knew he could provide no answer.

Sighing with defeat, Chris orbed upstairs to call Bianca and reschedule, leaving Victor alone to ponder the complicated life of his youngest Grandson.

Bianca was sitting in her apartment's kitchen when the phone rang. It was Chris, calling to cancel their date for the following night. He sounded very upset about something, and Bianca was tempted to ask what was wrong, but she knew that for some strange reason, Chris hated to discuss his personal problems.

"It's okay." She assured him, gently "Sunday is fine- okay- see you then."

Click.

She hung up the phone and tried to push all of the feelings of disappointment out of her mind. 'It's just one more day' she assured herself with a sigh, but she knew that any time away from Chris felt like an eternity.

She wondered what her mother would say if she was still alive. Bianca knew that her mother hoped she would never fall in love, she had firmly believed that a phoenix's devotion should be to her job, and that males were only useful for procreation. On top of that, she had absolutely hated humans and had spent a lot of time trying to drill that into her daughter's head.

Bianca had never been fully convinced.

Even from a young age she had never been like other phoenixes- she simply lacked the desire to kill. She was still quite good at it of course, but she viewed it only as a useless waste of time and energy- she desired some deeper fulfillment. And that was exactly what she had found in Chris. The love she felt for him consumed her in a way that nothing else ever had and she hoped that somehow, they would be together forever. The only thing she saw in their way was the secret she had worked so hard to protect.

She had no idea how Chris would react if she finally told him that she was a witch, and not just any witch but a demonic witch. An assassin.

The thought scared her.

What if he left?

How could he not?

Bianca sighed and turned on the television for a distraction.

She would deal with this issue another day.

A/N There's chapter two! I'll be updating really soon.

Note- I have never been sure about some of the Whitelighter technicalities- the show seems to be inaccurate sometimes. For the purposes of this story, whitelighters get to meet their charges from the onset.

Also, in regards to Chris powers, for the moment he has full whitelighter capabilities. Just bear with me on this one...