Not only was the last chapter incredibly long, it was also a very long time ago, for which I apologize. Now, to bring you up to speed:
Previously in Learning to Tango...
Bridget is pregnant and the baby she is carrying is a result of a drunken night with Chris. This was a revelation unveiled to the whole of Magic School's library, sending Piper into grandma neurosis and leaving Bridget wielding some pretty hefty demonic powers. Not good.
Gideon knows that the only way to kill the baby is to kill its host. He gave the gang some books he thought wouldn't help.
The books did help – sort of. They found a spell that would transfer the baby's powers to another body, and they were going to give the powers to a demon before killing said demon.
However the baby had other plans and started trying to destroy the ones taking his powers. They were all then caught up in a war with the clan of the demon they captured to give the powers to.
Chris is hurt, unconscious and dreaming.
Learning to Tango
Chris sat dejectedly on a rock, watching as Cody Harris kicked another Grand Slam and was proudly running bases. You know, ever since Cody had moved here from 'Los Angels' (which he didn't believe for ONE second, because Cody couldn't even pronounce it correctly), he had slowly been taking HIS spot on the kickball team. Chris sighed, watching the multi-coloured rubber ball soar skywards.
Who did he think he was, taking Chris's captain hood on the team just because he struck out two times in a row? It wasn't his fault his ankle hurt a little from the demon attack at the manor the night before, one that had got him thrown halfway down the attic stairs. He tugged at his sock and saw the slightly blue ankle encased in its sneaker and sighed. It wasn't his fault his dad wasn't able to come for healing.
Like he believed that for a second. He was 8 years old and even if he wasn't doing too good in science like Miss Elburn told his mother, he wasn't stupid.
Getting up and shoving his fists in the pockets of his denim shorts, Chris skulked away from the kickball field and onto the blacktop. Maybe he could find an empty swing to sit on, or oh! He could play tetherball. He was really good in that. Pausing briefly to return Lindsey Collins's wave, Chris plodded down the five steps to the play area.
It had been built last year and was positively enormous, with huge levels to climb up and five slides. And none of those nasty wood chips littered the ground, or sand. The school had been able to get enough money to put in this nice padding, like they had in the rec centre. Chris had heard the nurse talking to the principal about how many fewer plasters she had been given out recently. It was true, the padding was great to jump and land on.
Chris sighed again. As luck would have it, all of the 10 swings were occupied and he really didn't feel like climbing up to the top to slide down, especially when there were already five people arguing up there about who would get to go first. Chris's shoulders slumped and he picked up an ant, letting it crawl across his hand.
The witch-whitelighter couldn't identify, even if you asked him years later, what made him suddenly stand up and climb back up to the blacktop, because he himself didn't know. Maybe it was because he'd accidentally squished the ant. He knew that his father probably would've said that it was his fate and destiny, but then again, his father walked around in a ugly yellow robe and talked about being 'blessed be', which he could only accept from his Grams.
But back to the point. The point was, was that when Chris hopped onto the blacktop, he found one of the boys in his class running around as if hell hounds were chasing him (those things were nasty and ugly and gross and Chris despised them, mainly because they had made his mother tread on and squash one of his favourite toy cars). Chris looked to see what was chasing him. It couldn't be demonic, because no one else was screaming or being eaten.
As the boy rounded the corner Chris saw who was chasing him. Okay, so maybe the thing that WAS running after him could be considered demonic. Jack Roper was the biggest kid in their grade (and supposedly had flunked TWICE, which would explain the rumour of back hair) and you really didn't want to get in his bad graces. You really didn't want to let on that you got more lunch money than him either.
Behind him were his two cronies (that was Aunt Paige's word, and never failed in confusing his peers), Luke Patterson and Danny Horne. And the boy they were chasing... Chris frowned and stood on tiptoe to see. It was Ben Olsen.
Chris seethed. That was one of HIS friends. Okay, so he and Ben didn't hang out everyday or anything like that, but they got along pretty well. They both got an A on their English project two weeks ago, when they'd been partnered up.
Ben was funny, and had an... interesting vocabulary due to three older brothers. It was almost as good as the choice words his Aunt Paige dropped around. He didn't know exactly what they meant, but his mother made a huge fuss over them, so they must be good words. Well, good to use anyway. And doing the only thing he could think of to help his friend was to run over to him and see if he could help.
So he did.
"Hey, Jack!" The three bullies turned towards him and he gulped. "Um... Your brother is so dumb; he stared at the orange juice carton because it said concentrate!"
They all blinked and stopped moving. That was one of the jokes his Aunt Paige had to endure after she dyed her hair blonde. They didn't appear to get it, though. If truth me told Chris didn't really get it either.
"What about my mom?"
"He said 'brother', you inbred," Ben countered.
"That's enough of your smart... ness Olsen!"
"Because you don't know what it means?" If his Mom and his Aunt Paige were here, his Mom would be so telling Paige off for passing down her smartass streak. Chris, having said these words, winced. Bad move...
Moving surprisingly fast for someone of his size Luke Patterson seized the collar of Chris's shirt and swung him so that his feet left the floor, dropping him on the other side of the group. Chris stumbled but didn't fall.
And then Chris groaned, when he realized that the two of them had been backed into a corner.
"H-hi Chris," Ben greeted weakly, looking at Chris with apologetic hazel eyes.
"Hi Ben." Chris grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer. Stick together was the number one rule in fighting, Wyatt had told him. Jack and his two friends were closing in. Darn! If only his mother had told him not to use his powers around other people. He could freeze the goons and then he and Ben could run someplace.
"Well, well, well." Jack chuckled. "If it isn't Halliwell coming to the rescue."
Chris gulped as the three boys cracked their knuckles. Doesn't matter anymore! He was going to use his power and get out of -
He saw Ben's hands flash out almost reflexively at the advancing bullies and a split second later heard Luke yell, "What did you do to my shoes!" They all looked down to where Luke's trainers were frozen to the pavement. Luke's eyes were wide with fear, and if Chris looked close enough she could have sworn he saw Luke's upper lip tremble slightly. The young witch's head whipped to look at Ben, who shrugged and looked down at his hands guiltily.
Chris didn't have time to process this new information, because Jack and Danny were charging closer. Danny was nearly on top of his when he flicked his hands, freezing the three boys and then latched onto Ben's wrist. Ben blinked in mild surprise at the statues just as Chris orbed them out of there and under one of the slides, where no one would see them.
"Wow..." Ben said as soon as they had materialized, feeling slightly dizzy as he felt his molecules settle back together. Adrenaline pulsed through his young body and his face lit up with excitement. "That was cool. None of my brothers have powers like that! Wait 'til I tell them!" His face fell. "Oops."
Chris patted him on the shoulder. "Its okay, my family has active powers too. I get orbing from my Dad. He's a Whitelighter." Why was he saying all this stuff? This was supposed to be a secret. But did it matter? Ben could freeze, like him, only real, with real ice and everything. "Look, why don't you come over after school? We could hang out." Chris nodded enthusiastically, nearly bursting with excitement. Ben wouldn't be like any of his other friends who had to be frozen or leave when a demon attacked.
Ben grinned and nodded. "Sounds cool. You're the only one I know who has powers like me. Except for my brothers, and they're all older than me..."
Chris grinned.
Learning to Tango
"Please tell me I reached the quota for being knocked flat on my back for the week..." Chris mumbled, his fingers tracing the Band Aid Piper had stuck on his forehead. His head still hurt and he felt sick, he could almost feel the aspirin he had taken rolling around in his stomach.
"Yeah, it's always you, huh?" Ben sat up on the couch, rearranging the blanket so it covered his bare feet. It was dark in the back of P3, and the windowless office had made Ben feel slightly claustrophobic at first but he was too damn tired to care. His shoulder ached and sharp pains shot through it every time he tried to move it, and he still toyed with the idea of calling Leo, especially after all that he had done to the Elder. Maybe he'd get it put in a sling or something...
Piper had said that they could make up another bed on another couch in the room that Chris used at the back of P3, because she really had nowhere else to put them, but a feeling of satisfaction of finally vanquishing all of those demons was making him smile so he didn't care all that much. The adrenaline rush had long since faded and now Ben was tired.
"Do you think Bridget's gonna be ok?" Chris asked softly, sighing and rolling over. "I mean, I didn't want to get her involved in this, I didn't want to get any of you guys involved in this. You'd be much better off in the future still... Do you think I screwed up?" He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Ben, green eyes pleading for an answer.
Ben shifted uneasily, uncertain why Chris had suddenly become so dependant on him to tell him what was right and what was wrong. Ben didn't even know the first way to begin answering his best friend, but the question obviously plagued Chris, so he tentatively took a shot at answering.
It was true, the question was plaguing Chris so much that it nearly overrode the pain he was feeling in his head. The sisters had got close enough to give Bridget a sleeping potion, and when he'd orbed her into bed her eyes were normal colour again, so she must have been ok... Their situation was beginning to take a toll on him and he still couldn't quash the immense feeling of guilt after their fight. Everything was going wrong... He should be saving Wyatt, and he was distracted with everything that was going on right now, and for the first time he felt his goal cloud, shrouded my so many others that he had to complete before actually saving Wyatt.
"If we didn't want to be here we could leave, Chris. Bianca did it, right?" Ben shrugged, rubbing a tired hand over his eyes. What else was he supposed to tell Chris? That at least was true, if they didn't want to be here then he'd been rhyming since he knew how, getting home wouldn't be tricky at all.
"Yeah, but Bianca was apparently a two-faced agent of Wyatt..." Chris muttered bitterly, putting his head in his hands and ignoring the cut protesting.
How could he not have seen what was going on? He had just blindly believed Bianca, and it had nearly ended with his death at the hands of his brother. At the last minute Bianca had saved him, sure, but was that out of love? Or just guilt? Or even fear that Wyatt would turn on her when Chris was apprehended?
"Not everyone can make the right choices in life, man. I mean it's impossible to go through life getting everything right all of the time. You just can't do it." Ben yawned and tried to cover it with his hand but failed. "Sorry, today's been kinda hectic, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. While I was knocked out I had this weird dream thingy... It was the day we met, when we were like seven, remember?"
"And you orbed us off to hide under the slides? Yeah, I remember that..." Ben laughed. "I think I nearly scared Luke to death that day..." Ben laughed again, but the sound was hollow and lacked humour. The witch stared at the wall and frowned. "Do you ever miss it? Being seven, I mean?"
"Yeah... Night..." Chris flipped the light off and rolled over, so he was staring at the back of the couch. Soon his friend's rhythmic breathing announced that he was sleeping, but it took longer for Chris to find peace.
He missed being seven more than he would ever let anyone know. It was just so uncomplicated. There was nothing to weigh down heavily, no sense of responsibility, the thrill of knowing he was 'special' and couldn't tell anyone else about it. The fact that he could stop time and disappear and reappear in any place he wanted was so exciting...
But his powers had been a curse. A curse linked to his blood and bloodline, something he could never truly erase from himself. Wyatt had tried but Chris was still a Halliwell witch, powers or no. But his powers had ended up with Bridget part evil and Wyatt a tyrant, his entire family all dead at the hand of his evil brother. What had magic brought him? Misery, pain and death.
All he could think about before he slept was images of his unborn child playing on a climbing frame from a shattered dream, falling away as the pieces were lost to Chris forever.
Last One Standing
The smell of disinfectant stung the nostrils of the young man who was lying bound on the cold tiles of the room. Goosebumps had long since faded and his body had become adjusted to the clinical air that was air-conditioned to the point of refrigeration. He didn't know what had happened to his shirt, but his arms were bruised from the hypodermic syringes that were being used to draw his blood.
He could hear someone working in the lab, maybe at a workbench, and the hum of machinery and the AC filled his ears, as well as what appeared to be the air compressor of a freezer. The material covering his eyes was knotted tightly at the back of his head, and the adhesive on the duct tape binding his hands to something set in the wall behind him had brought a red, chafed rash out on his wrists.
It had been foggy as he took a shortcut through the alley. He zipped his jacket up to his neck as beads of white moisture clung to the material and stumbled, feeling light-headed. He let out a snort; he hadn't had that much to drink. He put the back on his hand to his forehead to wipe away the fog but it came back clammy with sweat. He blinked a few times, turning but tripping over himself and falling. He could feel his heart beating in his chest harder and harder, picking up speed.
He hadn't even had that much to drink and he'd felt fine earlier... He raised a hand to run it across his eyes and hit himself in the mouth hard enough to draw blood. How had he missed? He spat the blood onto the pavement and tried to get up, but his legs wobbled and folded under him. A figure emerged from the fog as he hit the rubbish-strewn alley floor.
The guy sighed and tuned out the clinking of various instruments and the hum of a machine. He had no idea where the hell he was and no one had volunteered information.
Man, Piper Halliwell should really do something if she was selling drinks that could do this to people.
Last One Standing
"Keys... Where did I put my keys? Oh..." Watching Phoebe dash around had given Paige a headache, so she went back to spreading her toast, forcing the butter into each corner of the bread slowly and deliberately with her knife. She finished and put it down on her plate, picking up her coffee and taking a sip.
"You know Phoebe you think you'd get used to being late after all this time," Paige commented, frowning as Phoebe tipped the entire contents of her purse out onto the kitchen island. Various makeup containers and business cards and phone numbers scribbled on napkins and packets of chewing gum and the odd piece of loose change and her wallet and a loose credit card and some receipts and two pens and a small notepad and some readers' letters and a small date book/diary fell out onto the counter's surface.
Paige watched as it all skittered across the wooden top of the island and expanded outwards from the point Phoebe had turned the bag upside down. "Jeez, who died and made you Mary Poppins?"
"You know Paige, I think you're just jealous because my purse is more expansive then yours."
Paige blinked. "Uh... huh... Where's Piper this morning?" She took a bite out of her toast and chewed.
"She said something about P3... A meeting? ARGH!" Phoebe slammed her hand down on the countertop. "My keys aren't in my purse..."
"No, but just about everything and anything else is," Paige nodded and grinned. "That's a good thing, right?"
"It's too early for smart asses..." Phoebe grumbled. "When Chris is born, I am so keeping you away from him, you rubbed off."
"Oh, please, why not inject a little humour into your life?"
"Inject a little what into your life?" Chris asked, emerging with Ben from a cloud of orbs. Ben sat down at the table, massaging a crick in his neck.
"Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to persuade your Aunt Phoebe that life isn't all doom and gloom," Paige shrugged, taking another sip of her coffee.
"Speaking of Phoebe, where-" Ben stopped and Phoebe rushed into the room, still cramming things back inside her purse.
"Oh, I'm late, I am so dead..." She buzzed out again and they heard the door of the washing machine pop open.
"Phoebe, that's the washing machine..." Chris said uncertainly. Phoebe's voice was lost as it echoed inside the drum. "Is something wrong with her?" Chris asked Paige, looking concerned. "She didn't get hit on the head, or a demon, or..."
The door to the washer slammed and the drier popped open. A curse word was all that could be heard from the belly of the metal machine and Paige shrugged again.
"She appears to think that the drier ate her keys..." The metal door slammed. "Or not..."
"She's looking for her keys?" Ben asked. "I think I saw a set of keys under the dining room table..." He yawned and waved a vague hand in the direction of the dining room, using the other one to rub his eyes.
Suddenly he felt the sting of something slapping against his palm and he stilled but didn't look at his hand just in case he didn't see what he hoped he would see.
"Chris, Phoebe's keys are stuck to my hand, aren't they?" Ben said weakly, still refusing to look at his hand.
"Yeah!" Chris's eyes lit up as he stared at the keys attached to his friend's palm.
This was so big, it was huge! Ben now had all of his powers back, finally. Phoebe rushed into the room and started to try and peel the keys from Ben's hand but failed until Ben suddenly let them clatter to the empty plate in front of his with a loud ceramic crash.
"You're telekinetic?" Paige asked, raising an eyebrow in Ben's direction and looking impressed. Her face fell. "Hey, before you all got here that used to be my power..." She sulked slightly.
"Don't worry, I'm not telekinetic. It's..." He paused, chewing on his bottom lip. "I probably shouldn't say..."
"Oh, please, you're gonna use them in front of us sooner of later..." Paige rolled her eyes at Ben as Phoebe snatched up her keys and dashed out the door. "You might as well let it out now."
"I am- used to be- am again, I guess, magnokinetic. It's not as good as telekinesis, because it kind of only-"
"Attracts metal objects, by any chance?" Paige asked. "Wait, used to be? Did I miss out on something here?"
"Well it's complicated."
That, at least, was true. Future Wyatt, hoping to finally crush the resistance had captured Chris and Ben and 'persuaded' them to bind their powers, believing that the resistance would be completely powerless without them.
Paige snorted and sipped her coffee. "Oh, you're gonna give me that future consequences lecture right? Then I don't want to know..." She finished her toast and began clearing her plate.
"Chris, does this mean that you can...?"
Paige looked around suspiciously. "Are you kids talking in future code again?"
Chris rolled his eyes. "No."
Paige narrowed her eyes. "Fine, I can tell when I'm being shut out. Its ok, I'm going to spend time with a nephew that doesn't know how to ostracise me before I go to work. I'll see you two later." She left the kitchen with a huff and they could hear her going upstairs.
Chris concentrated and suddenly rose into the air to about the height of the countertop and hovered, crossing his legs.
"You didn't get your empathy back?" Ben said, with a slightly disappointed look.
"Guess not. I'm on the way though, right?"
There was suddenly a loud crash on the baby monitor and they whipped around, startled, as Wyatt began to cry.
"Orb." Ben said to Chris, and Chris lunged across the air and grabbed his arm, orbing them out.
Before they fully reappeared, they were grabbed and thrown into the wall. As Chris reappeared he hit a chest of drawers on the way down and Ben crashed through a rocking chair.
The demon was tall and purple, with a band of green where his deep set eyes were. He powered up an energy ball in his palm and threw it at Wyatt.
"Energy ball!" Paige commanded from the floor, orbing the weapon away from Wyatt's force field and towards the demon. The demon shimmered out and the orb hit the wall, leaving a black scorch mark that no amount of scrubbing would get off. Paige pulled a face and got up. "Everyone ok?"
"Pride hurt..." Ben muttered, standing up.
"Bruises mean nothing. Constant – ow – Vigilance," Chris said, getting up. "Is Wyatt ok? The demon didn't do anything to him, right?"
Wyatt was still crying, encased in his bubble and Paige went to comfort him. He wouldn't let the shield down, though.
"I don't think so. Come on, little man, it's ok. It's Aunt Paige!" Wyatt looked up at her for a second before continuing crying. "Huh." Paige stood back and put her hands on her hips. "Maybe if we call in Daddy? Would you like that?"
"Daba."
"Ok, just a minute then..." She turned to the wreckage and sighed, wincing as she saw Piper yelling at her.
"Let the object of
objection
become but a dream
as I cause the se-"
A loud thump shook the wall scone on the wall behind her as the smudge mark half-heartedly disappeared in a small display of white orbs.
"Great, now it looks like I tried to cover it up and couldn't do it," Paige grumbled, folding her arms.
"Daba."
Chris' eyes widened as his brain finally calculated the sound of the thump and his stomach lurched. "Bridget's in the next room!" Chris exclaimed, orbing out before anyone could stop him.
"Daba?" Wyatt asked, watching the lights fade.
"Oh, great..." Paige groaned, putting her head in her hands and orbing out too.
"Hey! Not blessed with the power to orb, here!" Ben yelled at the ceiling, rolling his eyes. Wyatt pulled himself up in his crib using the bars. "Sorry, kiddo, I'm going to have to bail on you too."
"Daba!" Wyatt yelled, tears flowing again as he screwed up his face and orbed out.
"Wyatt, no!" Ben lunged for the crib but was too late, as the only thing left were blue and white orbs.
Another thump shook the wall, dislodging a picture of Thomas the Tank from its hook, shattering the glass front. Ben looked at the empty crib, at the door and then back to the crib again.
"Oh, man." He finally dashed out into the upstairs hallway and into the guestroom.
"Tell me where it is," the demon growled, releasing the tightness in his two fists slightly and allowing Paige and Chris to gulp in enough air to talk. Bridget was lying in a small heap half inside the wardrobe, pieces of the door littering the floor around her. Ben couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.
"Don't know - what you – mean-" Paige gasped, as the demon forced her higher up the wall towards the ceiling.
"Yes you do!"
"Hey!" Ben yelled, releasing a rush of fire at the demon that snapped his arm away and made him drop Paige. She hit the mattress choking. Ben raised his hands again but had to ice an energy ball heading his way before trying for the demon again.
Chris's legs were kicking uselessly in the air and his vision was going dim at the edges, beginning to blur into black. He could feel his windpipe caving in, as the demon's telekinetic hold on him grew stronger.
"Don't try it," the demon warned Ben, seeing the witch's hands raised. "Tell me where it is first."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Put him down." The command was icy and they all turned to see Bridget standing upright. A dark bruise was forming on her cheek and there were long scratches and cuts on her arms and a few on her face. The familiar cold look on her face seemed more deadly than the one Ben was used to. Her look had always told demons that they were going to die, but now... Ben suppressed a shudder.
"I thought I killed you," the demon said dismissively, throwing another energy ball at her. She caught it and crushed it easily into a wisp of smoke.
"Put. Him. Down." The threat chilled Ben's blood, not because he knew she would react badly if the order wasn't followed, but her voice had deepened slightly and it resonated with frightening command around the room, as if it echoed.
Bridget's eyes flashed black with a swirl of bright orange flames and she grinned at the demon standing there, cocking an eyebrow and waiting for him to do as she commanded.
"R-r-right away, mistress. N-no one told me you were still a-alive."
Bridget extended an arm and the demon winced, covering his face and dropping to his knees. Chris fell to the floor unconscious, but all Bridget did was curl and uncurl her index finger twice.
The demon shuffled towards her on his knees, and she bent and hissed in his ear, "Leave. Us. Alone."
"Yes, Your Highness, of course..." The demon babbled, scrabbling with the purple silk nightdress in hope of favour.
Summoning the athame into her palm brought another flash of flame to her eyes, and plunging it into the demon's stomach brought a grin to her face. As the demon died, Ben couldn't tell whether the flames in her eyes were reflections of the genuine thing.
Bridget dropped the athame to the carpet with a thud, and it immediately shimmered out of her view. The ashes of the demon began fading into nothing as well and she looked down at her hands, her body shaking.
"Bridget, come on..." Ben said, stepping towards her. He could see her trembling from here.
She growled, wrenching her body away from the arm Ben had put around her shoulders. "He thought I was his ruler," she spat. "He thought I- he thought I was a demon..."
"Well, you are kind of swapping your blood with the future Source as we speak. You didn't have to kill him because he made one tiny mistake, did you?" Ben licked his lips, hoping to hear Bridget's laugh.
"You don't get it, do you? There's this thing inside of me and it's making me evil. As in really, really evil. Dammit. What happens if I don't come back one of these days?"
"Don't think like that." Bridget shook her head, turning away from Ben, her shaking becoming more pronounced. She sniffled, trying to hide the tears that were threatening.
"Look, I don't want you near me in case I go nuts again, ok?"
"What are you going to do, hide in the closet? It doesn't even have a door anymore..."
"Just get out!" Bridget shrieked, pointing at the door. A stream of fire streaked towards Ben, but he made it spiral in on itself and disappear.
Bridget paused, breathing heavily. If that had been anyone else... Someone without the power to control fire... "I nearly killed you, for Christ's sake, Ben, why won't you LEAVE!"
"You won't kill me. I'm tough," he patted his chest proudly. "Come on, Bridget..."
"I could hurt you really, really bad then!" She gave a derisive sob-laugh, her eyes shining and looked at her hands. "Ben, I don't know what I could do right now. I have this baby that has some witch powers and some demon powers and I don't even know how to use them so just..." She flung out her arm in frustration and Ben was lifted off of his feet and through the closed door.
Bridget shrieked in a horrified shock and wrapped her arms around herself, face white. The silence was deafening, ringing in her ears.
"See?" Ben's voice broke the silence as he managed to stand on wobbly legs, using the doorframe for support. "Didn't kill me..." The witch had scratches all over his body and trickle of blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, but he slowly let go of his support and stood on his own, coughing into one hand. "I'm invincible. Come on, Bridget, you've got to let me help."
"I don't know..." Bridget sunk to her knees, relief and fear all overwhelming her at once.
"Come on, Ben. I think she wants to be alone..." Paige got off of the bed and put an arm around Ben's waist, rubbing his back.
"I don't want to leave her like this, Paige." Ben said, squirming out of the Charmed One's grasp.
"She needs some time alone." Paige almost whispered. "Come on, sweetie..." Slowly she managed to lead a limping Ben out of the room.
Bridget rubbed the tears from her eyes and sniffed. "Chris?" Bridget crawled over to her prone best friend and gently shook him. "Chris?" She felt more sobs rising in her throat and forced them away, letting what she promised herself to be her last two tears of that day fall onto Chris's rumpled shirt. Shaking her head, Bridget put his head in her lap and began wiping the blood from his forehead.
God this was horrible. Terrible. She was a demon hunter. It was her job to hunt demons and vanquish them, not be their supreme queen bee. She used to have the adrenaline rush from defeating the demons. The rush of feeling that meant that she had saved one more life.
Now? It was like they were being punished. The hateful satisfaction... She was the hero, not the evil queen.
Taking a deep breath, she finished wiping the blood from his face and took his hand in hers. How long had they been friends? She couldn't remember anymore. They had been through witch burnings and wars and battles, fights and kidnappings. But it had always been the four of them. Sure Ben was still here, but it was just her and Chris now. Ben couldn't know what they were feeling. She didn't even know what Chris was feeling, but it must be something similar to her own. "I know you probably can't hear me, but I'm so sorry..." She rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand tiredly and looked around the wreckage of the guest room. "I don't think I can do this anymore..."
Squeezing his hand, she let it go, scooting away from him. Closing her eyes, she concentrated and became wreathed in flames before disappearing.
Learning to Tango
Well that's that for now. So what will happen? I'm probably going to skip Flames AGAINto write the next chapter, so maybe in a fortnight's time? Don't hold me to that, though, because you never know...
I just realized from the dates on your reviews that this was updated nearly TWO MONTHS ago. I'm so sorry, I had no idea...
Pixie: - Thank you! I liked this chapter, and it was so much shorter...
Claddagh Ring: - Heh, I'm so, so sorry. Thanks for reviewing.
Alexis Rose: - Yeah, I know. But it might turn out alright in the end. Everything always turns out right in the end, right? Heh. You'll have to wait and see. Thanks for reviewing.
Rafiki: - Lol, thanks. Sorry for the wait.
Stony Angel: - Lol, thanks. Ok, there's Chris in the chapter, lol, you should be somewhat pleased. Yeah, just a little tiff, huh? Hm... Thanks for reviewing.
As Always: - Ooh, fast... There's an f word that I'm not too fond of, heh. I had no idea it had been two damn months...
Charmed Amber: - Ya, this is slightly less like an episode. It's less than half the length, lol, so yeah... Thanks for your review...
Dominique1: - Lol! Yes, I did see what you did there, it made me laugh. I can't believe I took so long to update, it's been ridiculous. Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciated it, and I probably don't deserve one for this chapter because I took so damn long...
Princesscatie21: - Aw, sorry... Nixa died... Well who knows how it'll turn out in the end?
May-j: - Heh, are you new? I didn't even notice a new reviewer, that's how late I am. Hey, by the way. Lol, don't mind me, just thanks for the review