Leigh1986: Notice how Kyle really is a whitelighter in the show? I found a spoiler saying he was so I incorporated it into my story, but not wanting to spoil it for others, I didn't mention that it was a spoiler. Glad you like the story!
Thanks for the reviews! At last, some Chris/Bianca flirtation, though they don't actually realize they're flirting, if you know what I mean. The full on relationship will come later, with major complications. (Foreshadowing, much?) Enjoy this chapter!
Chris arrived at the Golden Gate Park in a swirl of blue orbs, his hands on his athame, prepared for anything.
As he observed his surroundings, he noticed the raven haired Phoenix sitting patiently on a stone bench beneath the crumbling statue of an angel.
Bianca looked up expectantly when she heard the familiar chiming of orbs that she's gotten used to hearing. She's seen Wyatt orb in many times, much to her displeasure.
She followed Chris's gaze to the stone angel and smiled at the irony. "I thought it'd be appropriate. After all, I am meeting a real life angel."
Chris was uncertain of how to react to that.
Just stick to business. He reminded himself. There was no need to joke around with a killer. She may technically be a witch, but she was certainly demonic enough, with the shimmering and . . . well, leather.
The Phoenix scooted over and tapped her fingernails on the vacant spot beside her casually. "Sit."
"I prefer standing," Chris replied coldly. But for some reason, he could feel some kind of embarrassment. His mother had taught him to always be polite, but was he really supposed to feel bad for being rude to one of Wyatt's flunkies?
Something about her unsettled him. It was like that feeling before, like Chris knew she was telling the truth, believed her.
Bianca, it seemed, was just fine with this. She merely shrugged and said, "Suit yourself."
"So what do you want?"
Absently crossing one leg over the other, Bianca shifted herself into a more comfortable position, leaning back slightly on the angel statue.
"Wyatt's planning on building more probes." Bianca informed him.
Chris scoffed. "So? I knew that. It's not exactly big news."
Bianca sighed in exasperation, looking up at him as if he were a small, naïve child. "Idiot. He's mass producing probes now. That means that he can station them literally everywhere. How long do you think your resistance and any other witches can hide when that happens? He's speeding up the process of his takeover."
Chris looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. Bianca had to smile at that. It amazed her that this was the leader of the resistance, the one major thorn in Wyatt's ass. He was nothing but a kid. He could have been a college student, but was instead fighting the old war of good and evil against his older brother.
It was odd though; Bianca would have assumed that Chris would be the stronger brother, considering he was the son of an Elder and a Charmed One, whereas his brother had been conceived while the Elder had still been a Whitelighter. It must be that twice-blessed thing. That was something Bianca had never understood, and never worked up the nerve to ask Wyatt for himself.
She'd prefer to stay as invisible to Wyatt as possible. Unfortunately for her, he never allowed her to be that way, always getting up in her face. Bianca didn't want to admit it, but she feared Wyatt, and never cared enough or liked the company enough to joke with the demons or witches that worked under Wyatt. She doubted demons would be very good company, and the captive witches would be too damn scared to be any fun.
She had to admit, it thoroughly pleased her to fluster the Halliwell boy like that. It was fun provoking him.
Maybe it was because she liked the contrast. Christopher Halliwell was so different from his brother. The youngest son almost seemed . . . shy.
But then again, it was probably his conscience kicking in, telling him not to work with her.
Well, that's too bad for him. Bianca wasn't going to let him off that easily, not before she got what she wanted: freedom.
Silence lapsed between the two for a moment, and Bianca noticed Chris's fingers gripping the handle of his athame harder than he should.
"Relax, would you?" Bianca commented coolly, "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it before now."
"What makes you think you can?" Chris snapped back irritably.
In a blink of an eye, she shimmered out and in behind Chris, reaching around his body to grab his hands, using one leg to balance herself and the other to wrap around his, holding him firmly in place.
"Like this," she breathed into his ear, "If I can catch the son of a Charmed One off guard, what kind of damage do you think I can do to a whole horde of demons? I can help, if you let me."
Angry and ashamed at being caught in this situation, Chris orbed out.
Bianca was now grasping at the air. But she smiled. She knew he would come back.
Apparently, she guessed right. The swirl of blue orbs only went a few feet to the stone bench.
A furious Chris rematerialized sitting on the bench, his athame now positioned steadily, though Bianca noticed the slight tremor of his hand.
Chris was fuming with anger and irritation. What the hell had happened? Why did he lose his cool? Why was he unprepared? He just didn't understand it; after all this time of fighting Wyatt, trying to stay one step ahead of him and keeping his friends alive . . . why would he be falling apart now?
More importantly, why was he only falling apart after meeting her?
"Sorry about that," Bianca apologized casually, as if she had just accidentally bumped into him, "but you really should be constantly on your guard. You never know–probe!"
Wheeling around suddenly, Chris saw the probe emit light beams, screening his face. He was paralyzed, his eyes darting back and forth in panic.
Suddenly, the probe burst apart with finality as an energy ball made contact. Bianca had saved Chris.
"You see? We have to destroy it,"
"Destroy what exactly?" Chris asked, regaining his composure and assuming a cold, emotionless expression.
Bianca pointed vaguely in a direction. "A factory that Wyatt's been building for years. It's been built by magic, both demonic and Wicca. So it's a pretty powerful fortress. Probes are going to be mass produced by the thousands. Probably some time in the next month, the entire country will be littered with them."
"And that's it?" Chris asked skeptically, "That one factory is going to destroy all our hope? Can't Wyatt just build another one?"
Shaking her head quickly, Bianca explained, "No, because he's spent a lot of recourses on this project. Knowing Wyatt, if this fails, he'll just try again with a different method. Thing is, this is the most effective one. And he'll have some pretty pissed off demon contacts. I doubt this is really all that important to him anyway . . . personally I think he enjoys taking over things slowly."
Chris stared at her with distrust, "'Knowing Wyatt'? So I guess you are pretty high up there on the demonic hierarchy, huh?"
"I'm not a demon," Bianca protested defensively, "And yeah, I'm up there, but it's not like I want to be. A girl's got to survive. The only way to get out of doing the crap jobs is to be high on Wyatt's nice list."
But even being on his nice list has its consequences. Bianca thought bitterly. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She didn't want to dwell on what Wyatt regards as a "reward".
"So what do you intend on doing?" Chris asked sarcastically, "Blow it up?"
A small mischievous smile spread across Bianca's face. "Actually, that's exactly what I was planning to do."
"Are you sure you want to do this alone?" Penelope asked worriedly. "You don't want me or anyone else to come?"
Chris shook his head. "No. It's too dangerous, and besides, you're still recovering from . . ." he trailed off.
A flash of irritation crossed her face. "It's only a finger, Christopher, I'm not handicapped."
"I know but –"
"But nothing!" Pen was angry now, "What if you die! How the hell are we supposed to do? I can't lead, nobody can lead except you! You-you can't leave me alone!"
Chris flinched at her harsh words. "I-Pen . . . I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm coming back, I promise. And I won't be alone; Bianca will be there with me . . ."
"That I don't understand. I mean, I'm grateful that she helped save my life, but I thought you didn't trust her at all!"
He scowled at that. This was true, especially after what had just happened at the park. Nevertheless, she was his eyes; he didn't know his way in. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her.
As for trusting her, he still had that funny feeling that she was telling the truth.
"I'll be fine," he assured his cousin, "Just-just don't worry, okay? It has to be a one man, well one man and a woman, mission. We can't risk exposure, and more people will increase that risk."
Penelope stared at her older cousin, who had always been more like a big brother to her, and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"Come back," she pleaded, "We need you. I need you."
Chris smiled cockily, assuring her, "I will."
He orbed out in a swirl of blue lights.
Hide us both so that it cannot see
That we are not what we appear to be
Show us as a being in their eyes acceptable
Till we are safely out of harm's way be perpetual
"Not bad, Halliwell," Bianca smirked as she felt a tingly sensation rush through her body.
"So . . . what are we going to appear as?" Chris asked, shivering in the cold air.
Bianca smiled. "You'll see,"
She grabbed Chris's arm suddenly, who flinched and whipped out his athame in an instant, the blade now positioned centimeters away from Bianca's neck.
Apparently not concerned with this, she merely chuckled. "A little jumpy, are we?"
Chris moved the blade closer so Bianca could feel the cold metal on her skin. "I'd say I have a good reason," he hissed in her ear.
Ha. Payback. He thought. She caught him off guard earlier, and now he was repaying the favor.
"Man, I guess all of you Halliwell boys are neurotic." Bianca laughed.
Chris winced. His mom used to call him that.
"So you going to leave a girl hanging, or are we going to finish this?" Bianca asked calmly.
Hesitating for a second, he slowly put the athame away.
Bianca flipped some of her dark hair off of her bare shoulders. "Save that athame for later. You may need it."
Chris raised his eyebrows questionably, but Bianca didn't answer. She just reached for his arm again, this time asking him with her eyes for permission.
"What are you doing?"
"Shimmering us in. If you orb, the glamour won't be able to hide the orb lights."
Sighing slightly, Chris gave her his hand. The skin on her palm was very smooth and nice to the touch.
Not surprisingly, shimmering felt very similar to Chris. The only difference was that it was quicker, and lacked the warm feeling of orbing.
When they arrived inside the factory, it wasn't anything like Chris would have suspected. Actually, he wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. He would have assumed there'd be demons and witches running all over the place, which was his concern about Bianca's plan of blowing it up. But apparently, human casualties were not something they'd have to worry about.
The entire factory was powered by machines.
"I thought you said this was a powerful Wicca and demonic powered fortress!" Chris exclaimed, dazed.
Bianca nodded, "It is. Of course, there are no protections about who gets in. That's why we could shimmer in. Wyatt wants people to get in, so he can see who is trying to sabotage it or whatever. No, the magic is all underground, protecting the main core. That's where we're going. All these machines are powered by magic."
"So, what, the glamour makes us look like working machines?" Chris asked.
"Exactly."
Chris gulped. "Right,"
Bianca smirked. "What, getting cold feet?"
"No," Chris glared at her, "I'm just curious as to how are we going to blow up something powered by a hell of a lot of magic."
Bianca began walking, Chris by her side. "You bring the potions? You did exactly as I told you?"
Chris gestured to his potion sack. "Our best potion makers concocted it. But it's not powerful enough to blow up this thing, by the sound of it."
"I had to deliver the schematics for this place, so I know how it works. And with a little . . . research . . . lucky for us, I found out exactly what components are put into this thing."
Chris figured "research", by the sound of her tone, meant the torture of the demons, or potentially witches, who made the core.
"–the main power source for it is the Nexus, which contributes to the Wicca power mostly. Then Wyatt has a little place where he keeps a bunch of traitor upper level demons who tried to revolt against him. He slowly sucks up their life force, and demonic powers, to keep this place going. There are always plenty of revolutionists, so he never runs out of demonic energy."
Sure sounds like Wyatt, Chris thought ruefully.
"So a couple of potions are going to fix everything?" Chris asked.
Bianca sighed impatiently, quickening her pace. "See, I found that the slight snag in Wyatt's plan is that the only way to get anywhere near the core or to even have a chance of destroying it is to use the blood of a Halliwell."
Chris stopped cold, his hand resting on his athame. "What?"
"Don't worry," Bianca chided for what felt like the millionth time that day, "it only requires a little blood."
"Doesn't Wyatt know about this?" Chris demanded. "We could walk right into a trap!"
Bianca shook her head. "No we won't. Wyatt knows you're smart, but he underestimates your Intel. Don't worry, he has no idea."
Grudgingly, Chris followed her down past the massive machines and into the heart of the factory.
They reached a doorway with no inscriptions or any writing of any kind to indicate how to get past.
"Give me your hand," Bianca ordered.
"I'll cut myself, thanks," he shot back, taking his athame and slicing the palm of his hand, wincing at the pain. Then he offered his hand to Bianca, who positioned it in the middle of the doorframe.
A hissing sound emitted from the door, and it swung open. Once they both crossed inside, it shut with a hiss.
The core was small. Sphere shaped, it had blue and red sparks flying around inside it at a quick pace.
"It couldn't have possibly been that easy," Chris muttered to himself, still wary for traps.
Bianca shrugged. "Wyatt's got a big ego. He wasn't counting on someone knowing exactly how to counter all the little measures."
Deciding to not respond to that, Chris removed his potion sack from his belt. "Mind explaining to me how this works?"
"I found out information on each of the demons, and found out vanquishes for each of them. As for the Nexus, one of those potions is supposed to drain it of its power for about five seconds. So we throw in the demonic ones first, vanquishes the energy of the demons in there, and then I'll throw the last one and you can blow it up with your witch powers."
"That easy?" Chris said again skeptically.
Bianca nodded confidently. "That easy."
Chris hesitated. He had no idea if this was true. He doubted himself, and the instincts that told him Bianca was telling the truth. Suddenly gripped by recklessness, he decided, What the hell. He always had his back up plan anyway if Bianca decided to double cross him.
"Ok."
They both grabbed an equal amount of demon vanquishing potions, and Bianca grabbed the Nexus potion, the only white substance in the potion sack.
While throwing the demon vanquishing potions, they could hear screams of agony. Whether they were just from the energy inside the sphere or the actual demons themselves, Chris wasn't sure, but he did his best to block it out. Shrieks of agony can be quiet distracting.
Finally, they were done, and the only sparks left were the blue ones. Just as Bianca threw the Nexus potion in several demons shimmered in around them.
Shooting Chris a hurried look, Bianca began to fight off the demons, buying Chris time.
Without hesitation, Chris flicked his hands and the sphere shattered. He strode over to Bianca and grabbed her wrist. She quickly shimmered them out while explosions could be heard around them, fire sparking up and inflicting the demons.
Once they shimmered back to Golden Gate Park, under the angel statue, Chris spoke. "We did it."
Bianca smiled widely, the adrenaline of the fight still coursing through her veins.
"Wyatt's going to know it's us," Chris commented.
"No, he'll assume it's you. But there's no reason to suspect me. Which reminds me, I'd better get back." She smiled, hesitating for a moment before sticking her hand out. "We make a good team,"
Chris stared at her outstretched hand. He looked up at her, fire in his deep green eyes. "That's true. But once Wyatt's rule is over, and the world goes back to the way it's supposed to be, good versus evil, we'll be fighting each other."
"Who says I have to be evil?" Bianca smirked, amusement dancing on her lips.
Chris chuckled and shook her hand.
"Till next time," Bianca said, shimmering out on the last word.
Smiling to himself, Chris felt a new hope emerging. Maybe, with Bianca's help, he can save his brother, and what remains of the world . . . and his family.
Wyatt banged his fists down on the table in fury.
"What the hell do you mean the probe factory is destroyed!" he yelled at the demon, who cringed in fear.
Excalibur materialized in his hands, and the demon's head went rolling off onto the floor in a split second, the body's remains incinerating to ashes.
Wyatt's breathed hard, his shoulders heaving.
What a fool. He told Wyatt that a few machines were throwing potions into the sphere and fought his security off before the factory blew up.
A few machines my ass, Wyatt thought furiously.
Wrapped up in his anger, Wyatt proceeded to kick another chair, quickly using his telekinesis to bring it back before it broke a window.
Christopher, Wyatt fumed. The mere thought of his little brother infuriated him. He knew that dear little brother was the one behind it. How he knew about the factory at all mystified Wyatt.
Wyatt decided that Chris must have some kind of inside contact. But who? There was no way Wyatt could screen every single demon; that would take too much time. He'll have his two best find out for him.
"Shackle! Bianca!"
A gruff, buff upper level demon shimmered in first, followed by the beautiful, graceful Phoenix.
"There's a traitor within our ranks. Find it." Wyatt said coldly. "Don't disappoint me."
"Yes master," both muttered.
As they turned to leave, Wyatt called Bianca back, "Wait."
Bianca turned around slowly, dreading what she knew Wyatt was about to say.
Wyatt smirked and gestured at her. "Follow me,"
A lump formed in Bianca's throat. "Yes . . . master."