I own nothing, which is pretty lame but okay with me because Chris is dead and he's all I'd really want to own.
Prologue:
"Prepare to die, witch!" threatened a large hunchbacked demon with three leathery horns. He brandished an athame in the direction of a dark haired witch, who, without looking up from her basting, tossed a meat cleaver at the intruder. The cleaver flew straight through the demon and imbedded itself in the doorframe behind him, while the demon bellowed and disintegrated. The shaggy haired man who was halfway through the doorway froze in mid-step and stared at the athame that had narrowly missed his head. The witch looked up.
"Chris? Are you okay?"
"Yea. I'm just having trouble assimilating the fact that I was just nearly decapitated," the young Whitelighter replied. "Why are you throwing knives around the kitchen?" Absentmindedly paging through a cookbook, Piper responded,
"There was a demon."
"A demon?" Chris repeated, instantly serious. "Was it anything familiar?"
"Nope. Hand me that sifter." Chris handed his mother a measuring cup and pulled the cleaver out of the doorframe.
"You can scry with this and maybe find a hive or a lair or something, right?"
"I guess I could if I wanted to. The sifter, Chris!"
"Mom, forget the sifter. We have demons to find!" Rolling her eyes, Piper walked around the island and, glaring at her younger son, grabbed the sifter that lay next to his left hand.
"No Chris, we don't have demons to find. I stabbed, he hollered, he turned to dust. Case closed."
"You don't know who he was!"
"I don't care who he was! He's dead now, no harm done, and I have lots and lots of food to finish. Plus, his opening line was corny."
"What's gotten into you?"
"Me?"
"All three of you. You're acting like anything magical is practically irrelevant lately."
"I guess we all feel like we deserve a little break from things magical. After all, we stopped Gideon and saved the future from the evil your brother could've done, so why shouldn't we be easing up on our charmed duties? It's not like we're sitting on our asses instead of going out of vanquishes, Chris. Phoebe's giving lectures, Paige is working harder then ever with the children's hospital, and I… I am basting!" The happiness that was radiating off of Piper was not anything he'd ever seen on her, but he knew immediately what had caused it. A gentle smile broke out across his face and he said accusingly,
"I don't think the basting is what's causing that grin. I think you're just glad to be back together with Dad." Piper smiled in response and turned to her son.
"I've gotta tell you, life is good when you're in love. I'd look into it if I were you," Picking up her turkey pan and heading towards the oven, Piper gestured towards the ceiling with her giant eyedropper. "Go up to the attic and B O S the demon if you feel like it. Hunchbacked, three horns, athame."
Chris left the kitchen, pausing to glance back over his shoulder at his mother, who was now grating cheese and enthusiastically whistling the theme song for "Bonanza". He was grinning as he climbed the stairs, but his face fell upon entering the attic. His mind was on love, so the memories of Bianca hit him more furiously then usual. The attic was where he'd left her to go back and stop Wyatt, and it was where she'd died in his arms, victim of the same brother's general badness.
"Love?" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "I think that's just about the last thing I need right now."