2003 cont.
Creeping around to the front of the manor, Bianca crouched down behind the bushes, keeping a watchful eye over the occupants of the old Victorian house. She lifted a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes briefly as she rubbed her fingers soothingly across the skin. Her head ached terribly from withholding pain-filled tears. She had no time to cry or feel sorry for herself; she needed to get to Chris. Peering over the edge of the window she saw they were all gathered around him, fussing over him. It was an easy opportunity for her to get back inside.
She shimmered up to the attic, grabbing a few candles and placing them on the floor where she had seen Wyatt trying to cast a spell last Thanksgiving. He had told her that this place was the centre of the spiritual nexus. If this spell was going to work, surely it had to work here. Standing in the centre of the pentagram she had constructed she lifted the spell in her hand, sighing as she looked over the edge to the door.
"I call on thee to give me time, to provide me with the peace of mind. On death's door do I wait, rid these feelings rid this hate. I call on the calm of the seas, these witches three give them ease." Grimacing, she conjured a blade into her hand, pricking her finger with the tip. "So frees the blood from my body, so frees their desires."
Shaking her hand, the liquid red drops that bubbled on the surface spilled onto the floor. She waited a minute, listening astutely through the silence for movement from the witches. Hearing the clunky sounds of a door opening and hitting the wall on the floor below, Bianca made a desperate dash to clear up the mess she had made. She couldn't leave evidence just lying around, it would look too obvious. With no appearance by anyone in the attic, Bianca opened the door and crept down the stairs, peeking out. She saw Piper exiting one of the rooms, dressed in a low cut sleeveless red top and long black pants. She appeared completely preoccupied as she made her way back downstairs.
"Good," Bianca said quietly, breathing a sigh of relief. "It worked."
With more confidence she stepped out into the hallway. She stopped by the room Piper had left, glimpsing through the slit of the slightly ajar door. Inside she saw a baby sleeping soundly. She looked the slumbering figure over considerately. It had to be Wyatt, but the still form hardly looked threatening at all. Maybe they had been wrong about this all along.
"Okay, Piper, but you can't go anywhere," Leo hissed. "What about Chris?"
Bianca looked down on the pair from the top of the stairway as Leo raced out to stop Piper. He'd left Chris alone. She couldn't see anyone else from where she was, nor hear anyone.
"Wish me luck!" Piper declared without a second thought, passing him by.
Bianca grinned. She'd enacted the spell with a great measure of success. She'd been nothing short of brilliant with her plan. Now she only had one person to take care of – Leo. She knew Chris wouldn't mind if she hurt him a little. Besides, he was far too distracted now to pick up on her presence.
She shimmered down into the living room, lifting her balled hands and leaning back on her right foot. The moment she heard him enter she transferred her weight onto the left, kicking the right leg forward and making impact with the heel of her boot against his face. Leo spun, his body colliding into the window seat of the bay window. Bianca turned, resuming her normal stance in the hallway as she recovered. Flicking her hair back over her shoulder, she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek cockily, admiring her own skill. She was far better than anyone had given her credit for. Smiling with satisfaction she stepped back into the room, seating herself on the edge of the couch. Chris looked like he was sleeping, but with the rate his chest was rising and falling she knew he was in fact dying. She pressed her hand to the back cushion of the couch, leaning over him and placing her hand on his chest.
"Come on," she said, speaking to him as if he were awake and coherent. "We're going home."
She shimmered them both out, back to her mother's place. She wasn't even sure why she headed there. She knew she needed to be away from the manor. She was banking on her mother being absent again. When she arrived with Chris, she discovered she was right. Some vague distant memory told her in these days they hadn't returned home so quickly after the Charmed Ones attacked.
She shifted onto the coffee table, looking down at Chris. His skin was getting paler, beads of sweat perforating his skin. She brushed his hair aside, her hand coming to rest against his face. He was so warm. Pulling back, she moved herself into a better position, placing her right hand down onto and then slowly into his chest. He jerked unpleasantly.
"Shh," she cooed quietly. "Just let me finish what I started. You'll feel better soon, I promise."
Chris convulsed, coughing low in his chest and the back of his throat. She knew the magic was pooling inside him, choking him as if he was being forced to swallow his own blood. The white-blue glow surrounded her wrist at the opening where her hand was buried in his chest.
"That's it. Easy does it," she encouraged. Chris swallowed. She felt him stilling and carefully withdrew her hand. The light closed in her absence and she knew the wound would be fixed. She didn't have to undo his shirt to see that. His eyes opened as he drew in a chilling breath. "Slow breaths."
Chris looked towards her, his eyes full of loathing. "What'd you do to me?"
"I just saved your life," she retorted.
"By taking away my powers?"
You ungrateful bastard, she thought.
Angrily she pushed herself up, pausing before she left the table and turning back as she remembered to collect the chalk. She passed it into her right hand, stalking towards the wall and grabbing the askew painting, tossing it to the ground. The glass in its interior shattered as it made impact with the throw cushions on the floor. Chris sat up slowly, watching what she was doing. Lifting the chalk as high as she could, she began to again draw the triquetra onto the grey wall.
"How are you gonna bring me back, anyway?" Chris questioned. "That spell's a one-way door. It only goes backwards in time."
"He created a new spell because of you," Bianca informed him, keeping her eyes studiously on what she was doing. "One that works both ways."
"I'm touched," Chris said with a hint of sarcasm. He'd never known Wyatt to ever give time to even look at a spell let alone writing one himself – often he relied more on his powers than any other form of magic. He figured he must be a desperate man if he was going so far out of his comfort zone as to constitute a spell and convert Bianca.
"You should be. He's gone to a lot of trouble to get you back," Bianca said, looking back over her shoulder at him.
"Yeah. I see that," Chris said, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.
Her hand pressed against the wall, she spun back furiously. What was he trying to accuse her of? Being unfaithful to him? That she was the one spouting the lies? She pushed herself away from the wall, thinking of how hypocritical he was.
"You know you don't have to believe me, Chris," she said. "But this really is for the best."
"Oh, really?" he asked, the question dripping of cynicism. "How's that?"
"Because this is your only chance to live. If I fail, he'll just keep sending more assassins back, and all they'll have to bring home is a body," she said, trying to make him see the seriousness of the situation, that he had no choice in this – not where the Phoenix were concerned. She didn't want to have to spell it out for him.
"Doesn't matter," Chris said, reaching into his pocket. "There's nothing left in the future anymore anyway."
With a simple flick of his fingers he tossed the object in his hand onto the coffee table. Bianca stared at it as it settled. It was the ring – her ring – the symbol of all their love and hope and he'd thrown it away. He didn't want her anymore. He didn't want any of it anymore. It meant nothing to him. She thought she'd be able to handle this, after what she'd seen she was sure she wouldn't let him get to her again. But that simple action, those few damning words, hurt her more than she ever thought possible. She lifted her gaze to look at him. There was that same cocky, arrogant expression on his face as he settled back on the couch.
If that's the way you want it, she thought.
He was testing her, she knew it. Her hardened expression slipped into a glare as she moved away from him again and sauntered back towards the wall. She could feel his eyes burning into her as she finished one arc of the pentagram.
"Will you stop staring at me, otherwise you can finish this yourself," she said.
"I already told you I'm not going anywhere," Chris remarked.
"Fine," Bianca said nonchalantly as she started on the other side. "You stay here. I'll go back, Wyatt can kill me then he can send someone else back to kill you."
She heard movement behind her as Chris pushed himself up off the couch. She didn't turn to look. If he wasn't interested in her, if he didn't care, then she was just going to show the same indifference towards him. Joining the last points together, she turned and saw Chris standing right behind her, his arms folded and his eyes scouring the outline of the drawing, eventually drifting back towards her.
"You really expect me to jump into this thing like before?" he asked.
"Not without a fight, no," she answered, placing her hands on her hips and straightening her spine.
Chris scoffed at the answer, unfolding his arms as he turned away from her. Bianca watched him walk back towards the couch, trying to work out what he was thinking.
"How can you be so cold?" Chris asked, turning back on her. She lifted her chin defiantly, knowing she had every right to hate him. "How can you just stand there and pretend like we never meant anything to each other?"
"I don't have a choice," she insisted.
"Bianca… please don't do this," Chris begged softly, stepping back towards her. She could see the change in his eyes, she could see the Chris she knew – the one that had convinced her what she was doing was wrong, the one who had somehow managed to melt her heart. She averted her eyes. "Don't give up on everything that we fought for."
Her heart sped up, her breathing becoming just slightly more erratic. She didn't know what to say to him. She'd seen it in his eyes, heard it in his voice. He did care. He wasn't just playing. She tried to think back on everything she had seen before she came here but it was hard to get past the image he was portraying now. None of it made sense, and she wasn't about to stand around here now trying to work it out. She knew she had to keep to the plan – take him back to Wyatt and then they'd start over. She lifted her gaze to meet his.
"I'm not. I'm just hoping we can find another way," she confessed. Chris rolled his eyes away, shrugging unnervingly. She looked away, pushing out a breath as she tried to push away the thought that he didn't believe her. She shifted her stance, the heels of her boots playing noisily on the wooden floors as she looked back to him. "Ready?"
His expression was stone cold. He didn't seem to be looking so much at her as looking through her, his eyes locked on the triquetra on the wall. Receiving no answer, Bianca turned towards the wall, Chris following in the motion. Orbs sounded behind them as three more figures appeared in the room.
"Hey! Future girl." Piper called.
Bianca turned back quickly, Chris also turning to look as Piper hurtled a potion filled vial towards her. Instantly Bianca conjured an athame into her hand, hurling it quickly towards the vial. She took no time to watch it spin end over end, shimmering out as the blade sliced through the glass, splintering it into several fragments. Piper lifted her hand, freezing the dagger in place as it spun sideways. Bianca reappeared next to her, swiping it out of the air and gripping the handle tightly as she thrust the blade against Piper's throat. Piper jumped in surprise.
"You were saying?" Bianca questioned.
"Wow. She is good," Phoebe remarked, glimpsing towards Piper.
"Uh uh," Bianca warned as she saw Paige take a step towards them. "I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it."
"Yeah, well, we still have enough potion to vanquish you," Paige threatened.
"Maybe. But then you really will have to hope the Power of Two will do," Bianca said. She broke the stare she cautiously held Piper in to glance at the redhead. "Won't you, Paige?"
Paige raised her eyebrows inquiringly but said nothing. Feeling smug, Bianca thought she'd press the issue further. She wondered how it was that these witches managed to evade being destroyed at every turn. She was finding it far too easy to confront and beat them at every opportunity. Albeit Piper had blown her up the previous night, she now had the witch at her mercy.
"Oh, you'd be surprised what's in the history books. Now put the vials down… slowly," she commanded.
She hadn't felt this good since the days she was running around with Wyatt before Chris had made an appearance, telling people what to do, ordering Wyatt's troops around. It made her feel powerful. It made her feel as if she were the one in charge for a change – giving the orders instead of taking them. The sound of glass cluttering on the ground signified that they were doing as told.
"Bianca, don't. Let her go, and I promise I'll go with you," Chris intervened.
"Chris, what are you doing?" Paige queried urgently.
"If you kill her, there won't be a future for either one of us to go back to, and you know it," Chris said.
"What are you talking about?" Phoebe enquired.
Bianca didn't dare take her eyes off Piper, despite Chris' warnings from behind her. She hated how much Phoebe sounded like her mother at that moment. She also hated the fact that Chris was right – if she loved him, if she wanted him still around, she would be threatening his life and their very future by killing off his mother before he had a chance to be born.
"You'll see if you live long enough," Bianca said, glimpsing over to Phoebe before turning and making her way back to Chris.
"Piper, freeze them," Paige urged.
Piper lifted her hands and flicked them forward. Bianca turned to look back at them. Piper lifted her hand to her head, scratching it in confusion.
"Ah ah aah, okay I get why she didn't freeze, but why didn't he freeze?" she questioned aloud.
"Un-unless he's… he's a…." Phoebe stammered.
Chris lowered his head listening to the perplexity of his relatives behind him. Slowly he turned back, his expression making it look like they should have known and were stupid not to have figured it out already. Bianca smirked, relieved now to see that he hadn't entirely given the plan away – they didn't know who he was. He had done what she'd said after all.
"I'm a witch, too?" Chris offered. They reacted with a mix of shock and surprise, Piper only slightly wary now. "That's right. Part witch, part whitelighter. Just like you, Paige."
"You lied to us?" Paige shouted, offended.
"I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me," Chris explained.
"Trust you?" Phoebe retorted with the same amount of anger.
"Never mind," Chris said quickly. "It doesn't matter anyway."
"So that's it? You're just gonna leave?" Piper queried.
"I don't have a choice. She's stripped my powers," Chris said. Piper looked away, disappointed to have lost the battle. "Looks like Leo's gonna have to fix that floorboard without me."
Piper glanced back to Chris, narrowing her eyes warily. Bianca found it amusing that she would consider such a message threatening. It obviously meant something to all of them the way the two sisters looked at Piper. Bianca looked back to Chris, pleased to find him being so compliant now.
"Let's go," Chris said.
Passing her hand through the air, brushing past Chris's head and her own both towards her and away, she summoned the window to the vortex, applying her conjuration powers in the process to open the doorway. Turning towards the rippling sign, she began to walk forward, Chris matching her stride. Feeling Chris' fingers wrap around her own, she quickly got rid of the athame and took his hand. She barely noticed him glancing quickly over his shoulder as they walked into the light, letting time envelop them and transport them back to where they belonged.