Summary: This story is set in the future, sixteen years from the Season Six finale. Tasha, a girl whose past is unknown even to her, appears to the Charmed Ones, asking for help. Along the road to controlling her powers, an attraction springs up between her and Chris, but can their feelings for each other overcome the demons in her past--and future?
Dedicated to: I will always want you. I will always love you. I've got a crush…
Disclaimer: like everything I want, it's not mine.
Thanks: for being around as long as you were. I'll never forget you. Never forget me.
NOTE! READ HERE PEOPLE: this was originally one chapter, but as it turned out to be eighteen pages, I'm dividing them up, k?
Quote of the Day: "Woman to woman? If you're still describing this guy as the love of your life, then the can's open, the worms are out, and you may as well use them to go fishing."
Chapter Ten
And lately, Chris has been…strange. OOC, as us fanfiction writers would say (please do not ask, Tyler. Really). Um. I guess the run-in with the Gavrok freaked him out more than I thought! Heh, Pearl and Wyatt are irritating him no end about the B he got in Chemistry…in particular, about this one question that goes: "how are sedimentary rocks formed?" and he just goes: "through the rock cycle". I couldn't stop laughing when we were going through our papers…it's a nice change for mr. perfect to fall a little, y'know?
Pfft, anyway. Help me out…there's a parteee next Saturday at Carla's place. Should I wear my black halter and white miniskirt, or my yellow offshoulder top and denim Che Guevara miniskirt? Or…okay, I'll just leave you now.
See ya,
Tasha.
Tasha rounded off her email to Tyler, and clicked 'send'. Tyler was a sweet guy, but more importantly, her correspondence with him irritated Chris to no end.
Speaking of Chris. He sauntered in, a nonchalant expression on his handsome face, and sprawled across her bed. Tasha looked up.
"You know, just because this is your house doesn't mean you can just waltz into any room you want."
Chris just rolled his moss-green eyes and flipped through a magazine.
"Sex: put out or hold out? Why, Tasha." He wiggled his eyebrows as he read out the title of an article.
She leaned over and snatched the copy of Seventeen out of his hands. "Get a life, you perv."
Chris grabbed her around the waist, pulled her onto the bed with him, flipped her over, and started poking her sides.
"No! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Argh!" Tasha thrashed and squealed as he upped his tickling. He stopped, a large grin on his face. "Say I'm gorgeous."
"I'm gorgeous." Tasha repeated obediently. Chris started tickling her again.
"Aargh! I meant—you're gorgeous!"
"And don't you forget it." Chris lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Tasha rolled her eyes and stared up too.
"So. Are you going to Carla's party?" Chris asked presently.
"Yeah. I just sent an email to Tyler, asking him for advice on what to wear."
That got Chris's attention.
"What?"
Tasha sighed heavily. "Chris, don't throw a fit. He's a nice, extremely cute guy. We're just friends. Finis."
Chris looked unconvinced. "Why didn't you ask me or Wyatt?"
Tasha snorted. "Have you seen the way Wyatt dresses? I don't know if the boy realizes that there are other forms of clothing besides jeans."
"What about me?" Chris sounded slightly hurt.
"Okay, Chris." Tasha said sarcastically. She leapt up and pulled two hangers out of her closet. "Which outfit do you think would make Adam Ames want to have wild, hot sex with me?"
Chris flushed with embarrassment, and then indignation. "Adam Ames? He…he has a pierced tongue!"
"He's still incredibly hot," Tasha pointed out, dropping the clothes onto her bed. "And tons of guys have pierced ears."
"It's completely different," Chris argued, fingering his earlobe and shuddering a little at the thought of a needle puncturing it. Tasha just rolled her eyes and flopped back onto the bed.
"Whatever."
"And you're not wearing either of those skirts. They're more like belts."
x0x
"You are certain that this potion will do the job?" the hooded figure asked in a rich baritone.
"Yes, my master. It will bring out her dark side for twenty-four hours, and by the end of that, she will be turned."
"Excellent." The figure leaned back and smiled darkly. "By this time tomorrow, Tasha Fuller will be one of us." He turned to the crouching demon next to him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go administer the potion!"
"Yes, my master." The skinny minion shimmered out.
"I really need new lackeys," the sinister voice commented, before he flamed out.
x0x
Tasha poured out two glasses of iced tea and placed one in front of Chris.
"I can't believe your parents are letting you run around unsupervised for more than a day."
Chris grinned cockily. "I reckon it's because you're here. Mom thinks you're a good influence on me."
Tasha snorted. "I doubt that. Just because I confiscated and got rid of your idiotic skateboard, doesn't make you a better person."
Chris took a sip of iced tea, and noticed Tasha looking at him. "What? I can't always have a snappy comeback."
Tasha laughed, and then stopped when she heard to opening strains of 'Deck the Halls' waft through the house, courtesy of Pearl. "Oh no. It's too early for Christmas carols!" she groaned.
"What, you don't like Christmas?" asked Chris, taken aback.
"I've…never really had the opportunity to celebrate it, really," said Tasha. "So, no. Hate it. Everyone's always happy and all peace on earth and give without getting…then they spend the other 364 days of the year lying, cheating, stealing, bitching, fornicating…well, you get my drift."
Chris chuckled. "Just wait till Christmas. We'll cure you of your disbelief, oh ye of little faith."
Tasha opened her mouth to reply, but was halted by a loud crashing upstairs.
"What…it sounded like it came from the attic."
"The Book!" Chris orbed upstairs. Tasha frowned. "He couldn't take me with him?" she groused, before starting for the stairs. Then she paused, and concentrated, disappearing in a shimmer.
The kitchen was empty. No-one saw a figure shimmering in. He pulled a tiny bottle out of his robes, and, confused, looked from one glass to the other. He quickly poured a greenish liquid into both glasses, and shimmered back out, as silently as he had come.
Chris Halliwell stomped back down the stairs, a frown creasing his attractive face. Honestly, he thought. Wyatt should know not to try and float freaking implosion potions around the house. He picked up his glass of iced tea, and started to sip from it.
"Your brother is nuts." A voice announced from behind him. Chris whirled, and as he did, his elbow knocked over Tasha's glass.
"Oh, shit!"
Tasha huffed. "Boys. Y'all are so uncoordinated." She grabbed a dustpan and broom. "Now beat it, before I break you." She threatened, a smile playing about her eyes. Chris drained his glass and tossed off a mock salute.
"Yessir." He yawned. "I'm tired for some reason. I think I'll take a nap."
"Now?" Tasha glanced at the wall clock. "It's four in the evening!"
Chris shrugged, and pecked her on the cheek. "Wake me up for dinner."
Tasha muttered under her breath, trying to hide her grin. Chris caught something like 'not even married and already a housewife' as he was going up the stairs, and chuckled.
x0x
An hour and a half later, Christopher Perry Halliwell stretched, and got up.
He felt…purposeful.
Different.
He pulled open his closet to pick out a change of clothes. Colours…way too much blue and green. And hey, is this pink He grimaced, and yanked out the offending shirt, ripping it up and tossing the shreds somewhere onto the floor. He finally decided on a black collared shirt and soft, black leather pants. He pulled on dark boots, ran a brush through his hair, and orbed outside.
Dark orbs.
I think I…would like to kill something.
He strode off purposefully into the darkening sky.
He had only been walking for a few minutes when he ran into someone he knew, hanging around outside the mall.
"Hey!" Adam Ames sauntered up to Chris. Chris looked stonily back.
"Chris, my man, I heard you and that Tasha chick were close. What's she like?" Adam leered. "I heard she was fast."
Chris glared and reached out, shoving Adam firmly so that he landed on the ground.
"Stay the hell away from Tasha." He said, in a voice like ground glass. Adam picked himself up off the ground, his face angry.
"What the hell is your problem, man?"
Chris looked impassively back. "Right now, I'd say it's you."
Adam threw a punch that Chris easily blocked. "Is that all you've got, human?"
Even as he spoke, Adam snapped his right leg up in a high kick, pulling his toes back at the last minute to deliver a devastating blow with the heel. Chris, with the uncanny reflexes of a rattlesnake, caught his foot as it came at him and jerked up, flinging Adam onto his back.
Adam got up, obviously in pain—there was no way to break a fall like that—and limped slowly, backing away from Chris, his brown eyes wide. Chris grinned—not a nice smile—and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a flame appeared on the back of Adam's jacket. Still smiling like a hungry wolf, Chris turned and rounded the corner, his smile getting wider as he heard Adam's shrieks.
It's good to be me. He thought, as he disappeared in a flood of dark orbs.
He reappeared in a dark cavern, where the sound of dripping water rang through the air. He glanced around slowly. It would do for now.
Now…my Book. Christopher thought hungrily of that book that resided in Halliwell Manor. It was his. Why should those good witches—his brother, his cousin—keep it for themselves? They had barely used a fraction of its power. If he could harness it—harness it all—he would be…unstoppable.
And then there was Tasha. She…could be useful. A weathercharmer, an akashic witch, a demon/angel hybrid with tremendous amounts of unchecked, untrained power.
Yes.
Purposefully, Chris formulated a plan. First things first. The Book.
Disappearing and reappearing in his attic, he strode to the stand that held the Book of Shadows. As if entranced, he held his hands above the leather-bound cover, and basked in the aura of power emitting from it. As he lowered his hands to pick it up, he was thrown across the room by an incredibly powerful force. He gritted his teeth and stood, wracking his brains for a chant, a suitable spell.
Suddenly, the door opened and he whirled around to see his brother in the doorway.
"Hey-" began Wyatt, instants before Chris orbed an athamè towards himself and redirected it in his brother's direction.
"What-" Wyatt dove, and sent a telekinetic blast towards Chris that threw him into a wall. "Chris, what's wrong with you?"
Emerald eyes blazing, Chris snapped his fingers and set Wyatt's shirt on fire. Wyatt dropped to the ground immediately, and rolled. Pearl came darting into the room, alerted by all the noise. She looked Chris up and down.
"Nice outfit."
"Thanks." Chris bit out before he orbed another athamè towards Pearl. She ducked, and he redirected it. It sailed through her and fell to the floor.
"Surprise." Chris whirled to see his cousin standing behind him, her astral projection having vanished. A noise behind him told him that Wyatt had put out the fire and was ready to do some serious battle. Good. He was ready.
They were shocked, taken off guard.
He would win.
Suddenly, he found that his body wouldn't move, preventing him from channeling his powers. He looked around wildly for the source of his freeze, and saw Tasha standing in the doorway, chocolate eyes blazing.
"What the hell is wrong with you!"
It wasn't posed as a question, and Chris didn't answer. Instead, he fought the freeze with every particle of his mind—it was a newly learned power, and it wasn't extremely effective…yet. She truly was astoundingly powerful, especially for someone so untrained. As he broke free, he sneered, and orbed back to his hiding place.
x0x
"Would anyone like to tell me what the hell that was?" shrieked Tasha, panting rather. Wyatt and Pearl merely regarded each other mutely.
"I think…Chris is evil." Pearl observed.
"Once again Pearl, you are the master of the obvious." Wyatt started pacing around the attic. "The question is…how?"
Pearl rose. "I'm going to get mom."
"No!" Wyatt grabbed her. "Not yet. This is the first time they've had a break in several months, and we are not going to ruin it because of Chris' stupid behavioral problems."
"Agreed." Pearl said reluctantly. "Tasha, what do you think…Tasha?"
No answer. The place Tasha had been standing was now empty.
"Well, this isn't good," Wyatt observed hollowly.
x0x
Tasha glanced around, trying to get a feel for where she was. It was dark, dismal, cavernous. Too dark…ohmygod, it's too dark…calm down. Breathe. Relax. She nervously hummed to herself the first tune that came to mind.
"There she goes…there she goes again…"
"You know," a baritone voice sounded. "I really dislike the cover of that."
Tasha looked around cautiously. "The original by The La's is better. Who are you?"
"And do you have faith in God above/if the Bible tells you so?" quoted the voice, like it was a password or code. As it did, she saw a hooded figure moving in the darkness.
"I'm not Christian."
No answer. Tasha sighed, strangely unafraid. Play along.
"Do you believe in rock 'n' roll/can music save your mortal soul?"
"And I'm not mortal." It snapped its fingers. There was a smell of sulfur, and several lamps that rested in the wall were lit.
"'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend." Tasha muttered to herself. "Who are you? Can we stop quoting Don McLean and The La's, and move on here?"
The hooded figure stepped into the light, and pulled back his hood. "You can call me Dakaki for now. I like that…mortals have absolutely no idea concerning demon hierarchy. And you…you are the angel born in Hell."
Tasha started. "What?" she stared at the…Dakaki. He looked like—ohmygod.
"Principal Withers? You're a demon?"
Okay, not the brightest thing to say.
"Obviously. Think about it."
Tasha thought.
"Oh come on. Your powers become unbound just a while after you meet me, while doing a project on the Salem Witch Trials? A little convenient, don't you agree?"
Tashas shook her head. "My powers became unbound because I was angry."
Dakaki shook his head as well. "Nope. I unbound them, that morning when I met you. However, I didn't manage to do it fully, and had to wait for some emotion to trigger it." He shrugged. "Please. You weren't nearly angry enough to unlock an upper-level power like throwing fire."
Tasha swallowed. "You tried to keep me away from Chris because you knew he'd try and help me."
"I must admit, that part didn't work so well. I tried to sow seeds of discord and what happens? He becomes your whitelighter—and I find you shacked up in his house, no less.
"Now, hurry. We only have twenty-four hours before you regress." The man smiled a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "So kind of you to leave a glass out for my minion so he could administer the potion easily."
Tasha swallowed. Potion…glass?—the tea! Her mind raced. She hadn't drunk it, her glass had been broken; but…play along. "Uh, no problem." She turned, studying the wall opposite her. "So, this potion. What exactly did it do to me?"
Dakaki raised an eyebrow. "Can't you feel it? The purpose, the power flowing through you? The knowledge that you aren't bound by anything? The security of being subject to no rules whatsoever?"
She spun. "The self-assurance of being evil?" her voice rose slightly, and she winced.
"Yep," Dakaki grinned boastfully, and tapped her on the nose. "I must admit, that morality-changing potion was one of the best I've ever fixed up."
Tasha smiled sweetly. "Oh yeah, it was. Only thing?" she conjured a fireball.
"Get better minions." She sent the fireball zooming towards him, and concentrating, shimmered out.
The fireball hit Dakaki, and he shook himself slightly as it warmed him.
"Interesting. Remind me to kill Zofi." His eyes gleamed. That fireball had been strong, extremely strong. In fact, it was fascinating how she had mastered that skill first. It was, of course, an upper-level demon power.
Clearly, neither he nor she were ready. Tasha Fuller would bear further watching.
x0x
"Where have you been?" shrieked Pearl as Tasha shimmered back in.
Tasha's mouth was set in a grim line, and she looked from Pearl to Wyatt. "With…someone. But that's not important: I know what's wrong with Chris."
"What?" asked Pearl and Wyatt in unison.
"A potion, a 'morality-changing' potion. Any idea what that is?"
Wyatt nodded tersely. "But they only last for--"
"Twenty-four hours, yeah. But the way I see it, we aren't safe for another…" Tasha glanced at an antique clock in the corner. "Twenty hours. And if I know Chris, he won't stop trying to get what he wants."
Wyatt rolled his eyes. "That's for sure."
"So why don't we just ward the house? Make sure he can't get in?"
Tasha looked at Pearl askance. "What if…he hurts—or kills—someone else?"
Pearl looked shocked, her mouth trembling. "Chris would never!"
Tasha hugged Pearl, her own eyes watering slightly. She blinked back the tears. Crying was a sign of weakness.
"I know Chris wouldn't, but he isn't Chris anymore." She looked to Wyatt for confirmation.
"You're right, but Pearl has a point. Why don't we ward the house so that he can't get in, then scry for him to make sure he doesn't do anything we'll—or he'll—regret?"
Tasha nodded. "Right. You two go fix the wards up, and I'll get something that belongs to him we can scry with." She grimaced. "Unless someone else would prefer venturing into the Pit of No Return?"
Pearl gave a watery smile. "No, you can do it."
Muttering, Tasha exited the attic and entered Chris's room. Papers, clothes, random pieces of technology littered every surface. Boys with their toys, she thought, with a wry smile. She moved towards a likely-looking pile and rummaged through it, looking for something small enough to scry with. Keys, books, iPod, guitar picks…a picture of me? When did he get this? Her eyes widened as she studied the passport-size photo, and realized it was the one she always carried in her wallet. Pfft. I wondered where it'd gone.
"Don't you know it's rude to go through other people's things?" a languid voice asked. Tasha whirled, and found herself staring into a pair of green orbs that were cold, luminous, the color of glacier ice.
"Chris-" was all she managed to get out before darkness claimed her.
©WalkThruTheFire, 4th December 2005