2026 cont.

"I can't believe it's come to this," Bianca said.

"I know," Chris agreed.

Bianca looked around the memorial garden anxiously. Her reprieve had ended. She knew Wyatt would be watching her, but she didn't know how or when. All she knew was that they were quickly running out of time.

"I feel like we're missing something," she said.

"I have the spell," Chris announced, holding up the folded paper to show her. "I don't know how effective it'll be, but we'll have to try. Today."

"Today?" she queried disappointedly. Chris nodded, pocketing the paper again.

"If it doesn't work, we're going to have to come up with something else."

"It has to work. Wyatt's already dubious of the reasons behind my enquiries about the museum. I'm sure he trusts us, but he doesn't entirely believe us."

Chris looked up into the sky as another floating vehicle buzzed overhead on its way into the city. It was still bleak and grey, the smoke-infested pale interpretation of the destruction that had happened across the city. The place was quiet, except for the occasional sound of sirens, and despite the fact that the city had become fairly lifeless, the sounds of seagulls squawking from the bay denied such a theory as their cries could be heard in the far distance.

"I can't even start to think what the change will be like," he mused.

"It'll be happy, for us," Bianca said, smiling up at him as she took his hands and gripped them in hers.

Chris looked down to her thoughtfully. "I need to ask you something."

"What?" she inquired.

"I think you should sit down," he advised.

"Chris!" she shouted, laughing as he pulled her towards the stone seat and pushed her down onto it. Lifting his leg, he straddled the seat and shifted closer to her.

"Are you serious about me? About us?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, confused. "Why… why are you asking?"

"Because I need to know," he answered, smiling reassuringly. "So you're not going to go running off with the next guy that comes along after I'm gone?"

"No!" she cried, offended he'd even suggest such a thing.

"Even if I don't come back? Say if something was to go wrong…"

"Nothing is going to go wrong," she said determinedly. "Don't talk like that."

"So you'll wait for me?" he asked. Smiling, she nodded. "Good."

Combing his hair behind his ear, he reached down to his pocket and lifted up the flap, thrusting his hand inside as he felt around for the small object he'd been carrying since the moment he'd picked it up from the floor.

"What are you doing?" she asked, looking curiously at his hand as he fumbled and then withdrew the closed fist from his pocket.

"Give me your hand," he instructed.

She lifted both hands, about to hand him the right when he threaded his through her left, between her ring and pinkie fingers, lifting her hand by pressing his index finger into her palm. Pushing the ring up to rest between his thumb and forefinger, her eye caught the glint of the band and she suddenly knew what he held. Slipping the ring over the edge of her ring finger, she felt her fingers tremble – whether from nerves, fear, excitement or a mixture of all three she could not determine. All she knew was this was real, this was happening right now - against their plan, completely unexpected, and she was happy for it. He steadied her hand with his own, pushing the ring up over the knuckle until it came to rest in the crevice. Her eyes sparkling as they glazed over with jubilant tears she met his gaze, her mouth moving but no words coming out. She didn't know what to say. She was speechless. Chris leaned towards her. She couldn't help but note the serious expression on his face.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. This was no joke; he obviously couldn't wait as long as they had planned to. He was obviously worried something was going to happen in his absence.

"You're asking me now?" she questioned, in light of this theory.

"Mm-hmm," Chris replied, nodding his head. Her smile widened at the resolution on his face.

Glancing quickly at the garden, she looked at him with amusement. "Here?"

"This is still our spot, Bianca. No matter what he's done to it. Marry me."

"On one condition," Bianca said, leaning towards him as she covered his hands with her own. Chris straightened, the unexpected answer catching him off-guard. "You come back to me," she requested, reinforcing the grip on his hand. Chris relaxed, giving a relieved laugh. "Safely."

"Have I ever let you down before?" he asked.

She stared into his eyes. She knew he hadn't – he'd always been there, even when she didn't want him to be. He'd even saved her life which was a lot more than most people could claim. Body and soul, she was his. Her eyes relaying the answer, she reached around to the back of his neck and pulled him towards her, Chris' hand finding her side as their lips met. Lifting her left hand to move it away, she found as she touched it that she didn't want to quell this, she wanted to keep going, and so she continued rising it until it rested on his other shoulder. Threading his hair through her fingers, she tightened her grip, pressing herself ever more towards him. Deepening the kiss, Chris pushed back and instantly she pulled away. Not for fear of him, but for the whirring noise that sounded nearby. The fluttering of birds quickly departing confirmed her suspicions it was not a good thing. Relaxing her hold, Chris looked aside as he heard it too.

"What's that?" Bianca asked.

Sliding her hands down his shoulders, she looked up, Chris turning fully now to see what was approaching them. Over the wall flew a disc-like object – Bianca instantly recognised it as a probe. There it was - that was the way Wyatt was going to keep watch over her. She knew he'd altered them, he'd done that some time ago, but she had no idea if this probe came armed or not. Pausing in front of them, the light shone bright as it switched on, scanning over Bianca with a blinding yellowish hue.

"Chris!" she shouted.

Already on the case, Chris pulled his hands away from her and straightened, reaching across his body with his right hand and telekinetically flinging the probe back to the other side of them. Bianca turned to look behind her, watching it crash into the decaying remains of the stone angel, exploding in a shower of sparks upon impact. Her heart beating furiously, she turned her head down, her hands splayed across the cold stone seat as she took a few ragged breaths to calm herself down. Leaning forward, Chris put his hand back on her leg, struggling to see her face, his right hand brushing reassuringly down her arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

She nodded, thinking, worrying, her mind running into assassin overdrive as she tried to work out how long it had been there, what she'd heard, how much she had let Chris distract her and whether it had gathered any information that could incriminate them. But it was destroyed now; Chris had gotten rid of the probe. Chris had fixed the problem like he always did. She had nothing to be anxious over.

"Yeah. Yeah I…" She looked up to him, watching him brush away the hair from his face. "I don't think it had time to transmit."

She couldn't believe how confidant she sounded at that assumption, and she could see on Chris' face that he believed her. She knew she had to be right. She'd thought of every analytical possibility in those few seconds. Easing her mind also was the supportive touch Chris afforded as he replaced his hand on her leg, the other encompassing her wrist. Gently he squeezed her leg, propelling himself upwards as he voiced his anger. She looked up to him with annoyance, wondering why he was now abandoning her, why he was the one who was acting furious at the whole situation when she was the one who was being attacked.

"I cannot believe he's sending probes after us now," Chris seethed. Bianca dropped her gaze. He meant Wyatt, she knew it, but wasn't it just as much her fault? After all, it was because she had betrayed Wyatt in the first place that she was now under constant watch, that she was putting their lives in jeopardy. "I'm going to kill that son of a bitch."

"No!" Bianca insisted, quickly rising to her feet and grabbing Chris' arm, her other hand resting on his chest to facilitate in stopping him from running off to do so. She knew the kind of fallouts the two brothers had. She knew Chris would ruin their plan if he let his anger get the better of him now. "No, you're not. You're going to stick to the plan."

"But he knows."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "If he knew, he wouldn't have sent the probe."

Chris looked off in the distance, his expression dejected and beaten as he gave in to her reasoning. He lowered his head in defeat. A long silence stretched between them as he tried to calm himself down, Bianca not allowing him any room to move until he did so.

"You have to go back, Chris," she said desolately. "It's the only way to stop him. It's the only way to change all this."

Chris nodded, knowing she was right. On the verge of tears, she lifted his hand and pressed it to her lips, adding reassurance and hope to what they strived for. Lowering it, Chris moved towards her, resting his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry. She wasn't about to lose him forever. He'd promised he would come back, that things would be better. Wrapping his arms around her, Chris pulled her in closer, Bianca taking comfort in the warmth of his body pressed against hers.

The house rose before them like some great figure of impending doom. With the level of expectation they had placed on themselves, its massive appearance felt twice as large. Bianca nervously toyed with her ring as she took a few steps closer, Chris following awkwardly in his reluctance.

"What if we can't get in? What if they recognise you?" Chris asked.

Amused at his panicky questioning, she smiled and looked over her shoulder at him. "It's a public place. We'll have no problem getting in; the problems will start once we're inside. I doubt they're going to recognise me. It's been a long time and Wyatt's surely replaced the staff since then."

"Wouldn't surprise me if there's a high turnover. I wonder if 'termination by death' is in the contract?"

"I'm still breathing, aren't I?" Bianca pointed out. Chris quickly looked away. "I think he's upped the security, though. He's become more than a little paranoid with this looting problem. He thinks someone might take something from inside, and after all the difficulties we had collecting it…"

Chris looked overhead as that same annoying whirring sound began again. Another probe floated towards them. Chris lifted his arm, batting the air with the back of his hand. The probe skidded sideways, smashing into the trunk of a tree by the roadside.

"This is getting ridiculous," he complained.

"It'll be worse inside," Bianca said. She glanced over to the remains by the trunk. "You can't keep breaking them. Especially not inside, there'll be too many other people around."

"Not to mention the fact I won't be able to use my powers in there."

"Not publicly, but you can still use your powers inside. Only the boundary is barred."

"How do we get the book in then?"

"I saw him orb it out, which must mean it can come back in too," she explained. Wetting her lips, she continued: "We'll have to find somewhere to hide out until dark. That way there won't be anyone to stop us."

"Except maybe a few guards," Chris said.

"I don't know if he has anyone on night patrol," she admitted.

Chris looked at the door. He heard another couple behind them of Asian decent, the young woman with long plaits reaching all the way down to her waist babbling excitedly about what was inside. Chris understood very little of the conversation, catching only the odd name he recognised. He watched them go in, quickly following, Bianca striding behind him. Stopping by his side at the counter, she glanced up to him and smiled surreptitiously.

"Two please," she requested from the cashier.

The cashier placed two tickets on the counter, Chris realising at the sight that he'd have to pay for them. Digging in his pocket, he found some stray notes and coins to cover the cost, thankful he was still able to hold down a paid job around Wyatt's unpaid labours.

"So, discreet is the key word?" Chris asked in a low voice as they headed towards the rest of the group. Bianca nodded quickly. Chris looked down at the short skirt she was wearing, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "You don't look so discreet in that. You must be freezing."

"I didn't see you complaining before. Besides," she said, taking his arm, "I have you to keep me warm."

"Don't give me ideas," he said, smirking.

Stopping at the back of the group, Chris looked around quickly. "Those floorboards aren't going to help. It doesn't look like he's changed the place at all… except for the few thematic additions. Do you know where to go? Bianca. Bianca."

"Shh," she hissed at him. "We'll just follow the tour. We'll find our opportunity. Just keep your guard up."

The group moved forward as the tour guide joined them, heading further up the hallway. Chris and Bianca followed at a slow pace, purposefully hanging back at the rear to remain out of sight and aware of problematic encounters. Raising his hand to his mouth, Chris nervously chewed on his thumb, old memories flooding back with every step further into the house he took.

"Welcome to the Halliwell Memorial Museum," the tour guide began. "A tribute to magic and, of course, the Charmed Ones. Please remember there is no digi-capturing, no holographing, and most certainly no magic allowed while inside the museum. That's a big one."

Bianca felt compelled to roll her eyes at the chirpiness of the guide. Instead, she glanced up to Chris, wondering if he'd caught the tour guide's last remark as she had. She knew Wyatt had been paranoid, but this was proof positive his overzealousness and fear had reached extreme levels. It was going to be hard to bypass detectors if he'd set them up somewhere. As if her thoughts were manifesting into reality, a distant whirring noise could be heard.

"Don't worry about those probes, folks," the guide said with a wave of her hand. "They are merely scanning for witches."

Bianca froze, her trained eyes darting around quickly to find the objects. Chris looked up, seemingly more aware of what was around them. Yellow light streamed out from the former living room where the tour guide stood, intricately scanning the crowd. Bianca pulled back slightly, Chris remaining close to the wall so the light's angle couldn't reach them.

"Now as we pass through the foyer note the family portraits hanging on the walls which date all the way back to the witch trials, including one of the grand matriarch herself, Melinda Warren, the woman who literally gave birth to the storied legacy," the tour guide continued, leaving the room and walking further up the hallway.

Chris lowered his head, following the group at a short distance as Bianca peeked around the corner, keeping her body covered by Chris just in case. Craftily, Chris lifted his hand from his face and waved his fingers back in the direction of the probes. Instantly the two security devices turned around, their scanning rays falling upon the mannequin in the corner bearing a dress once worn by one of the Charmed Ones.

"Nicely done," Bianca complimented.

Chris glanced up, ensuring what he had done had worked, and placed his fingers back to his mouth. The group continued behind the tour guide, passing by the roped off conservatory filled with mannequins bearing costumes that once belonged to the Charmed Ones.

"Around you, you'll notice just a few of the many mythological creatures the legendary sisters transformed into in their demon-fighting heyday. Actually, the Charmed Ones were responsible for well over one thousand demon vanquishes before they were finally vanquished themselves," the tour guide informed them. Stopping by the stairway, she lifted her hand and a beep sounded as she hit the button on the remote, repocketing it as the lights dimmed. "Now, the time is twenty-five years ago. Imagine yourselves standing here on this very floor when The Charmed Ones were reborn."

Chris and Bianca stopped by the superhero clothed mannequins, turning to watch the tour guide's enthusiastic gesturing. Chris automatically folded his arms, defensively blocking out the fakeness of her excitement about his family. A large blue holographic screen projected down before them, showing the hallway twenty-five years earlier, bright lights shining down over his mother and aunts, his father standing in the exact same spot that the tour guide now stood.

"Okay. What was that?" Paige asked, panicking as she withdrew her hand.

"I think that means you're supposed to be here," Leo explained.

Phoebe's hand resting on Paige's shoulder, the door burst open, a powerful burst of wind blowing the girls to the floor as a horribly ugly demon who looked like the long haired version of the Hulk appeared on screen, his shirt flapping in the breeze.

The crowd gasped, jumping back. The beaming tour guide raised her hand and turned off the screen via the remote in the same beeping fashion. Bianca and Chris, both with their arms folded and unsurprised at the vision of the creature when they had seen much worse, glanced over to the frightened spectators as they tried to regain their composure. The tour guide laughed.

"Scares 'em every time," she chuckled. "Okay, let's head over to the kitchen where many of the sisters' classic potions were brewed. Some of which are available for purchase in the gift shop on the way out."

A hint of a smile appeared on Bianca's face. The kitchen was the exact place they needed. It had a door leading to the basement, and from memory Bianca knew Wyatt had not placed anything down there. It would have been too hard to manoeuvre everybody in and out, and barely had any light to display anything. It was the perfect place to hide. Glancing over to Chris, she saw his eyes trained on the top of the stairway. He was obviously caught up in memories of the place, although she wouldn't have been surprised if he was also looking out for Wyatt. She moved forward, Chris stepping forward with her. She realised he was paying more attention than she had first thought.

"Of course, the attic was the preferred spot for potion-making, principally because that's where they kept the famed Book of Shadows which is where we're headed next," the tour guide said, circling the bench in the kitchen and exiting through the doorway. "A little background on the manor itself - it was actually destroyed in the earthquake in nineteen-oh-six, but…"

Chris strolled into the kitchen at the back of the group, Bianca following him in as the group turned and made their way out. Chris looked around, his eyes falling on the San Francisco map spread out on the table, the scrying crystal suspended over it. Bianca eyed the table edge, remembering when they'd moved all the furniture in three years earlier. She remembered sitting in that exact chair as Wyatt had brought her a cup of coffee, trying to keep her stamina up for the next round of work. She felt Chris behind her. She was starting to lose her nerve, and she swung her hand behind her looking for his to clasp in comfort. Further back on her right hand side she heard somebody shimmer in. Instantly she snapped back into Phoenix mode.

"Hey, you two, move along," the demon ordered.

"Wait for it," she said to Chris.

Conjuring an athame into her right hand, she held it close to her body, listening to his approaching footsteps. She was grateful that she had learned from her time with the Phoenix to fight blindsided.

"Are you deaf? I said—"

Her hand tightening around the handle, she turned quickly, thrusting the point into the guard's body, satisfactorily watching him go up in flames, the sound of squelching as the metal went through his body like music to her ears. She hadn't felt this charge of adrenalin in a long time, having denied herself any sort of kill because of Chris. She enjoyed the rush, but she wasn't about to admit that. Chris stared down at her hand, surprised at her ruthlessness. He felt trepidation begin to settle in, fear of what she could and did do with such sharp objects, all the time he'd had with her falling away as he remembered what she used to be like. He lifted his eyes to her face, worried when he saw how cold and unfeeling her expression was.

Quickly Bianca walked to the basement door, turning the handle as she looked back to him, the athame still firmly in her grasp.

"C'mon!" she urged in a hushed voice, pushing open the door.

With only a slight hesitation, Chris followed.