"Morning Leo." Katie greeted with a yawn as she walked into the large magic school library. It was barely seven am and she would have much rather been in bed, but Leo had requested that she meet with him, bright and early, to discuss some sort of idea he had had.
"Good morning." The elder sighed, pulling a large old tome out of the pile of books in front of him and slowly beginning to flip through it. "Chris should be here any minute."
The girl nodded and took a seat at one of the large wooden tables. She was still slightly confused as to why Leo had asked her to come; it wasn't like she was particularly powerful or special, and yet he had insisted upon her presence. In a way, it made her feel important…the most powerful being at the school obviously trusted her, and possibly even valued her opinion.
She, Leo, Chris, and various other people they had recruited had worked tirelessly since that horrible night two weeks ago when Wyatt had managed to capture the witches. She was yet to come up with anything useful, and quite frankly she was beginning to loose hope; maybe their time would be better spent helping un captured witches seek refuge…maybe there was noting to do to help the ones that were already imprisoned…
She really hoped that Leo had come up with something good.
The sound of heavenly bells from behind her marked the sudden arrival of Chris, and Katie looked up to give him a warm smile. When she caught sight of him, however, her warm greeting quickly turned into an expression of concern.
She had never seen the young man look so tired and worn.
"Chris, what happened?" she asked, her blue eyes full of worry for her friend. "You look terrible."
Chris sighed and sat down next to his father. "Yea, I know." He muttered, glancing down at the floor. "Had a rough night."
"What's wrong son? Does it have anything to do with Wyatt? Is Bianca okay?" Leo inquired, placing a comforting hand on Chris' shoulder.
Chris shrugged it off and sighed again. "Bianca's fine." He began slowly. "But last night Victor appeared at the apartment…he had been beaten up by Wyatt and his demons…they took the manor, and threw him out."
"Is he alright?" Leo asked worriedly.
"Yes, I healed him." Chris replied "…but seeing him like that…I kind of snapped…so I orbed to the manor, wanting my revenge on Wyatt-"
The elder's mouth dropped open in surprise, and he stared at his youngest son in shock. He looked as if he was somewhere in between yelling and crying. After a quick glance at Katie, he turned back to Chris and said something angrily, in a strange clicking language the girl had never heard before.
Chris looked insulted by what ever his father had said and quickly responded in the same type of clicking.
"Okay…" Katie muttered under her breath, looking back and forth between father and son with confusion. "What the hell was that?"
Chris' green eyes suddenly snapped towards her and a look of realization crossed his face. "Oh, I suppose you didn't understand what we said."
She shook her head.
"That was the whitelighter language." He continued, shooting a glare at his father. "I guess Leo didn't want you to hear him call me a jackass."
"That's not what I said, Chris!" Leo protested.
The boy shrugged. "That was the gist of it…and yes, I know it was a stupid thing to do, but it's not like I can go back and fix it now. Not even we can travel back in time just to change the unfortunate things that have happened. Trust me, if that was possible, I'd do it…"
"Yes, I know." Leo replied, his voice becoming somewhat calmer. "And I'm sorry for getting angry…but you do have to learn to control your emotions better, Chris." He glanced over at the section of the library Chris had destroyed in his fit of rage two weeks ago. "We can't afford any more bad moves."
There was a slight pause.
"So, Leo, why are we here?" Katie asked, cutting through the tension.
The elder pushed aside the book he had been looking at and placed a small piece of paper on the table in front of him. "I've been talking to several contacts all week and I've uncovered some interesting information that I think we can use." He paused and looked over at Chris. "I'm guessing you already know why Wyatt took back the manor…he wants to turn it into a museum."
Katie furrowed her brow in confusion. "A museum? Why?"
"He thinks it will solidify his authority..." Chris replied quietly. "Remind people of our family's great power."
The elder nodded and looked back down at the sheet of paper. "That's right. And I've also found out that he is planning to open it on new years eve…evidently he thinks it will be representative of the 'new era' he wishes to establish under his rule. My contact said that he is going to be holding a huge public ceremony, to be broadcast coast to coast."
"So what?" Chris muttered, already growing tired of sitting around. The events of the past night had made him highly irritable and he was not willing to listen to his father ramble on. "What's your point?"
"My point," The elder continued with a hint of annoyance. "Is that Wyatt and many of his most important minions will all be distracted that night…it's our best chance of breaching his prison and taking back the witches. We may never have another opportunity like this."
Katie's heart suddenly began racing as she thought over what Leo had said. He was right…there was a chance that they would have success. There would surely be demons guarding the prison, but most upper levels demons would be spending their time at the manor that evening…showing their support for Wyatt. And Wyatt himself would be less likely to attack them if it meant loosing his calm façade on national TV.
"It could work." Chris muttered quietly. "We'll still need a hell of a lot of potions, spells and people…but it could work."
Leo gave a weak smile before rubbing his tired eyes. But, despite his fatigue, Katie could sense a fresh optimism in his expression.
"Excellent. Glad you agree." Leo stated with relief. "I'm going to need a lot of help…from both of you."
"What do you mean?" Katie asked, intensely curious about her purpose in all this.
"I'm going to need you both to execute this mission." He began to explain. "I can't just send people into the underworld to vanquish demons. We need tactics, and generals to help carry them out. I cannot think of two witches who I trust more…"
As he trailed off, Katie stared at him in disbelief. Her? Leading a mission? She did not feel capable of such a responsibility. "Are you sure?" she squeaked.
Leo gave her a warm smile. "Yes, you and Chris are the only ones who can do this. The only ones devoted enough to the cause. You were there when they were captured, you saw Wyatt…I know that you can do this."
"Dad, I…I can't." Chris said quietly, starring down at the table. "You can find someone better than me…I'm not a fighter. I save people, not lead them into battle. I'm a whitelighter-"
"And a witch." Leo cut in. "A Halliwell. I know that you don't have a lot of experience, Chris, but Halliwell's have always been able to fight when they need too. I know that you've always been more in touch with your whitelighter side…and I'm so proud of what you have achieved…but you can't forget that you're a witch too…it's part of who you are…you can and will do this."
There was a long pause as Chris and Leo locked identical sets of green eyes.
Neither knew what to say next.
"He's right Chris." Katie whispered after almost a minute had passed. "I know that you can do this…plus, it's your best chance to get revenge on Wyatt. Weaken him. You'll protecting Bianca and the baby."
Chris gave a slow nod, and his expression slowly turned from worry to determination. It was evident that he was beginning to be swayed. "Yes." He muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "For them."
The elder gave Chris a reassuring pat on the back, unable to suppress the wide smile forming on his face. "Good. We'll have to start work right away…you'll each be in charge of equipping one half of our number with the resources they'll need for the mission, and filling them in on what we've planned." He paused and shuffled a few of the papers in front of him. "I've been working on a strategy, but I'll need both of you to help me perfect it. We will meet here every morning at seven for the next two weeks to begin preparations. I suppose you can take some time to enjoy Christmas…It's really a shame we don't have a few more weeks…"
"We'll be okay." Katie said reassuringly. "We've already archived a whole bunch of useful spells, and I know that the room next to mine has a good supply of potions."
Leo nodded, glad to have her optimism. "Good. I'm going to continue going through these books." He stated, gesturing to the pile in front of him. "Take a day to rest. I expect you here, bright an early tomorrow."
Both Chris and Katie stood up. "I'll see you later Leo." The girl said quietly, making her way towards the doorway.
"Um, Katie?" Chris said, causing her to stop in mid stride. "I was just wondering, if you're not busy…if you'd like to spend Christmas with Bianca and I? We won't be doing much, but the more the merrier."
The girls face instantly brightened. She hadn't spent the holidays with anyone since her parents had been killed. "I'd love to!" she replied quickly.
"You too dad." Chris continued, turning to face his father with a gleam of childlike hope in his eyes. "I'd like it if you could come."
Leo sighed and opened another tome. "I'm sorry Chris; I really can't afford a break."
The hope in the boy's expression instantly faded. "Right. I was stupid to ask."
"You know that I would if I could."
Chris shot his father a glare and said something in the strange clicking language they had been using earlier. Leo looked hurt and muttered a few word in response before Chris disappeared in a swirl of blue.
With a slight frown, Katie watched as the last of the orbs disappeared. "What did he say?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Nothing really…it's just…he's still mad at me for not being around when he was growing up." Leo sighed. "I suppose I can't really blame him…I just wish that he could understand how much I wanted to be there…how much I love him."
Katie gave the elder a sympathetic smile. "Maybe he'll get it one day." She turned and began to walk back into the hall way when she was struck with one final thought.
"Leo?" she began quietly.
"What?"
"Um, if the three of us are going to be working together please don't to the clicky whitelighter thing…it drives me nuts when I miss parts of conversations, and I think you'll agree that all three of us need to know everything involved in the mission."
Leo smiled slightly and looked back up from his book. "Of course. I'll make sure that we don't do it again."
Satisfied, Katie left the room, ready to enjoy the last day she would have to rest before they forged ahead with the plan that could quite possibly bring an end to her short life.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: Phew. This did not turn out exactly how I intended, but oh well. SORRY about the long break. I've been distracted with friends and Christmas and all of that…I figure that once school starts up again I'll return to my former pace as I look for any excuse not to do my homework. I'm determined to finish this fic, no matter what…the reviews really do keep me motivated, so please spare a few seconds to tell me that you're reading this. The end is slowly coming into sight and I hope that I will be able to write it was well as I have planned it. If any one cares, I intend to finish this one and then resume work on my other fic (Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now) so don't expect me to update that for a while. I've also devised a plan for a Charmed- Smallville cross over, so hopefully I'll get around to working on that at some point too. (I am now officially a Smallville addict…I got the season three DVD's for Christmas and I managed to watch almost all of it in three days…sad, yes, I know. I now have a strong urge to do some character comparision between Chris and Clark…I have realized that they are quite similar in many ways.)
Right, sorry for rambling for so long…hope you all had and awesome Christmas!
ilovedrew88- Nope, I don't think Bianca will be too happy, lol. Sorry that this chapter isn't long, but I have a few biggies in the works. Thanks for another review!
Uninformed- You are so right, I DO love to torture you.evil laugh If you don't like the torture, then I suggest you stop reading, its only gonna get worse. :)
Gemini099- Of course Wyatt would do something that evil, muahahaha. Glad that you're still reading.
Chris Drew Lover- Thanks for reviewing! Yes, I'll say it again- I am very cruel to these characters…you'll have to wait and see what happens to poor Chris next.
phoebe turner- thanks again!
