Disclaimer: You know what I should do? I should make a song about this. To the tune of Yankee Doodle:

I do not own Charmed right now because of lack of money

But after just a couple drinks, Brad Kern will call me "honey"

There will be no limit to what I can accomplish

Once I own Charmed, I'll be rich and I'll buy lots of chocolate!

I know, I know. I'm wonderful. No autographs, please, I need this hand for typing :D. lol!

A Few Life Lessons

Wyatt:

I know Leo was here, at the bridge, watching me. I decided to let him know of my decision the simplest way I could: through my expression. He saw the smile on my face as I looked upon the destruction of our society. He saw the joy I was barely managing to hold within.

He knows now that I, only I, am powerful enough to send the entire bridge hurtling to its doom.

And he knows that it's too late to change me now.

The only question is, what's my next move? There are plenty of scrawny, spineless demons in the Underworld that would follow me in a snap. But that's just what they were: scrawny and spineless. That didn't necessarily make a nice army, now, did it?

I know that no matter what I end up doing next, though, I can't forget the original mission. Now those other stupid lighter kids don't even matter anymore. They aren't powerful enough to stop me. No, it's only Chris that stands in my way. Barbas may have him now, but he'll be out soon enough. That's just the way things work in the Halliwell manor: someone gets kidnapped, there's a huge demon vanquish, that someone gets saved and then we go back to what we scraped together as our "normal" lives until such a cycle begins all over again.

So I have to kill Chris myself.

A teenager walks up to me. A tourist, by the looks of it. She has a big shirt that says: "I love San Francisco" on it.

"That's a big explosion," the teen says to me in a solemn tone.

"I know."

"Everything just went kaboom!" She flails her arms out wide to illustrate this noise.

"I know. Why are you bothering me?" I ask, losing my patience.

"Because you're happy and everyone else is sad."

I hate naïve people like this. "Okay, well, I won't be happy anymore unless you leave me alone," I say between clenched teeth, full prepared to blast the girl into oblivion if she didn't leave me alone soon.

Her lips suddenly curl into a devious smile. "Okay, mister, I suppose I'll have to speak quickly to get my point across. You're evil. I'm an assassin." She lifted her sleeve to show the mark of the phoenix on her arm. "In the Underworld, that would be good news."

Suddenly this girl seems a whole lot more appealing then she was a moment ago. "And what would be your name, phoenix?"

"Bianca."

"Well, then, Bianca…welcome to my wildest dreams." I think for a moment. "I've got just the assignment for you, too…"

She grins coyly, stepping closer to me. "An assignment? I like the way you think."

I realize with great joy the full potential of having a witch assassin as a recruit and grin back at her. She's not so bad on the eyes, either—a curvy body with straight black hair and a really nice tan. The benefits of this relationship are just screaming for a test run. "I need you to kill Chris Halliwell, my brother."

"Your brother, hmm?" she says. "Well, if he's as cute as you…" She laughs. "I've got it covered. But what would I get in return?"

I think for a moment. What would a phoenix want? Power? Yes, power. "I'll enhance your powers," I bargain. "Deal?"

"Deal, Mr. Halliwell," she confirms. "Okay. Where is he, then?"

"Down in the Underworld, with Barbas."

Bianca cringes. "This better be some good power I'm getting. I don't like going anywhere near that demon." She flips her hair out of her eyes and sighs curtly. "I'll be seeing you soon, I suspect," she says airily, shimmering out.

Chris

I think I might be dead. Could I be dead? My head still throbbed, my limbs ached from the chains, and the fireball that erupted from Barbas' anger still burned. But I had to be dead, because the girl in front of me was…would beautiful describe her? Certainly, she was beautiful, but it wasn't that that attracted me to her right away. She was intriguing, a girl of many layers; on the outside, she had dark brown hair and eyes and looked cold and unforgiving. But I could almost see something else within her…mercy? She suppressed it, though, as if it were bad.

No, I couldn't be dead, because she most definitely was not an angel. Standing before me was a demon girl, no matter how complex and fascinating she seemed—and something told me this wasn't good news.

"You're Chris?" she asks. Despite her confident demeanor, I can sense a small tremor of fear within her. She must know that Barbas is down here, or she wouldn't be so afraid.

"Who's asking?" I respond, trying not to wince.

She scoffs. "I am, you freak show."

"I could be Chris," I offer, "but then again, I could be one of Barbus' cronies." I smile wickedly.

She unconsciously takes a small inch away from me. "Barbas doesn't have any cronies," she states uncertainly.

"How do you know that?" I ask.

I can feel her fear. It's radiating off her with every one of her heartbeats. Am I evil for feeling this? I wonder. It was no surprise I could sense it, being an empath, but I didn't even have to use my powers to know she was afraid, even if it was only the littlest bit.

"You're awfully cocky for a crony that's chained down to the floor and helpless." She smiles her own wicked grin, mirroring mine only much more sinister than one that I could ever muster. "It looks like my works cut out for me. I've been sent to kill you, Chris Halliwell."

I yawn. "By my brother, right?"

"Yes, by your brother." She looms over me condescendingly and whispers in the utter silence of the underground, "Are you ready to die?"

I shrug. "I suppose."

She pauses, realizing how easily I'll let her win. I know she wants me to beg her for mercy, cry my eyes out and promise her the world in exchange for my life, but I won't give her that satisfaction. If she's going to kill me, then let her kill me. Something makes me doubt that she'd do it, though. And even if she did…how much would it matter to the rest of the world? The lighters might be sad, but they'd move on. They were emotionless at one point in their lives. They could surely do it again.

And that's when it hits me: for once in my life, all the lighter training was benefiting. I could turn off my fear. I close my eyes and try to focus on the blocking, and I'm immediately surprised by how easily I can resume my old nature.

"You welcome your own death?" she asks.

I open one of my eyes. "If fate would have it be that way, then yes," I say nonchalantly. "Are you going to kill me or not? What are you, afraid?"

Her dark eyes seem to light on fire. "I am not afraid," she hisses. "I'd watch your mouth. I can make this a lot more painful than it should be."

Leo

The second I orb in, I realize what an idiot I am. Of course Barbas would set a trap. What kind of a fool would be naïve enough to just orb into a demon's lair and expect to orb out as if it was pie? A fool like me, I think grimly to myself.

My muscles seem to be stuck to the high, rocky ceiling that shadows over the underworld. Some invisible force field has pinned me to it like a web; I'm stuck here, watching my son talk to the girl that could very well be his murderer. What's he doing, provoking her like that? He's fearless, with his own life at stake.

Fearless. I swallow hard, watching the blank expression on my son's face. How did our lives become so twisted? What did we do wrong? One of our sons was hidden from us for eight years, living in hell, and as soon as we jumped that hurdle, the other son became a dangerous killer that would stop at nothing to show the world his power. Wyatt—that cute little baby boy that orbed all over the place while flashing his adorable dimples at us—was trying to kill Chris.

It occurs to me that we never even got to see Chris grow up. When we got Chris back, he was already an adult, in a way. And here he was, old enough to laugh in the face of death. I wish I could scream at him. I wish I could stop that girl, threatening him more with every passing second. I wish…more than any of that, I wish that I could go back in time and change everything that happened, starting from the day Wyatt was born.

But that's impossible. We can't change what's happened now.

"A lot more painful than it should be?" Chris imitates the demon.

I wince. What's he doing, mocking a demon like that? All the while, with that blank void of emotion.

"Yes." She forms a fireball that flickers and burns with a fierce light.

Chris laughs at her. "You really think that that silly thing's gonna kill me after all this?" He laughs even harder, but somehow there's no emotion to it. There's no sadness, no happiness…maybe only a hint of regret.

"You underestimate me, Chris."

"Can I ask you a question?" asks Chris airily, observing the floor. The poor kid's a bloody mess. His head's been bashed with something, his ankles and wrists were rubbed raw from his chains, and there's already a wound from what looks like a previous fireball from Barbas.

Which brings another thought—where in the hell is Barbas, anyways?

I honestly believe Chris when he says that that fireball won't kill him. He's gotta be immortal or something…he's lucky to be alive after all that has happened today.

The girl frowns sourly. "Are you trying to distract me or something?" she demands. "Why do you want to know my name?"

"Because," says Chris evenly, "you intrigue me."

"I—what the hell?"

"I've never seen anything like you," Chris states. "You're evil, but at the same time you're good. You're standing at a crossroad, here. You can either kill me and choose evil or let me live and choose good." Chris gave a half-shrug. "Don't let me influence your decision, though, because it doesn't really matter to me which path you choose."

"I'm going to kill you and that's that," she fumes. "Don't give me some reverse psychology bullshit about having a good side. I was born a phoenix. I assassinate people. Deal with it." After a brief pause, she adds, "My name's Bianca."

Chris nods. Then I see what he's doing. His gaze is completely unfocused, in another world that only exists in his mind. Suddenly he seems so small, like a child trapped inside of a dark hole. I've seen him like this before. I still see it in him every now and then, and I have to shudder and try to shake it off. It's the same look he wore when he first fell from the sky.

Emotionless. Empty. Dead.

With every second, my old lighter ways are overwhelming me. I feel this great power rumbling beneath me, struggling to break free. I never lost it, I realize. I've always known that the power is there. The orbing, the healing, the shield and the energy blasts. I did it once, and I can do it again.

This is what I've been waiting for.

Isn't it? Isn't it what I've been waiting for?

Yes…just a little longer…just a bit more power…

Is that really me thinking all this? When did I ever want power? Why does this seem so right all of a sudden? I never cared about power before…I was perfectly content being away from the Embassy. I knew all I needed to know.

Think about it, Chris. Power will solve everything. Wyatt won't be able to lay a finger on you. You can kill him. You can get revenge for all those years that people doubted you, thought you were a powerless flea. Now is the time.

I feel stifled. I'm being smothered by this force…It's not right. I shouldn't have these thoughts. I don't want to kill Wyatt! I don't want to hurt anyone!

She's about to release the fireball. I swerve wildly, possessed by my own power. The chains are loose—I'm free from my binds. I look back at them and they're steaming from the sudden fire that just erupted from me.

Bianca's fireball extinguishes and she stares at me, wide eyed. Now the barriers have fallen. She's downright terrified of me.

Then I hear a slow, mocking clap. Barbas comes out from the shadows. "For a moment I thought you may not have it in you, my boy," he says. "Oh, but you proved me wrong. All that power…think of the possibilities," he hisses at me. He turns to Bianca. "I don't know who you are, but I have no further need of you." He raises his hand to wipe her out.

"Don't you dare," I say under my breath, conjuring a great ball of blue energy. I've seen this energy before, on the cloudy surface of the Embassy. That time it was wild and uncontrollable. This time it's focused and compact. I've gained the maturity I need to use this power. It's time to unleash it—for good, and not for anything else.

I release it and Barbas is on the ground, nothing but ashes, in less than a second.

I gasp for air, winded from the exertion. "You underestimate me, Barbas," I say, using Bianca's previous mantra.

Bianca's eyes are still wide, her arms crossed in front of her face like a shield. She lowers them slowly to stare at me. "You're not going to kill me," she deduces.

"And you're not going to kill me," I respond.

She looks down at the floor. "I'm a failure as a phoenix," she says bitterly.

"You're a hero to the rest of us," I assure her, taking a step closer to her. She flinches but doesn't move back. "Stay away from Wyatt. He's bad news. I only wish I knew that sooner…If you need me or any other witches, we'll be around."

She smiles at me, but this time it's warmer. "You'll be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good. Because when I really do kill you, I want you to be at the top of your game." With a last little twinkle in her eye, she shimmers out.

At which point, Leo orbs in.

And I, thankfully, am finally able to orb out.

I UPDATED! w00t w00t! Lol. I looooooove summertime.