Chapter 3: "Be Careful What You Witch For"

Unfortunately, Friday took forever to arrive. Between his course load and demon vanquishing, Chris was exhausted. Still, he would not allow his tiredness to interfere with his date. Chris had threatened Wyatt and Melinda with bodily harm should they interrupt his date with Clark.

Chris looked at himself in the mirror again. He had changed his clothes five times already; he wasn't sure what to wear for the date. He really wanted to impress Clark. Finally, he decided that what he was wearing would do and orbed a couple blocks down from the Italian restaurant that Clark had chosen.

Walking up to the restaurant, Chris noticed Clark standing outside waiting for him. Clark was wearing a pair of dark jeans with a black dress shirt and leather jacket. Chris grinned and commented "So you do own something other than flannel shirts?"

Clark laughed. "I could say the same about you and your hoodies," Clark joked, taking in his date for the evening. Chris was wearing a deep green dress shirt, bringing out the colour of his eyes more. His jeans were a similar shade to the ones Clark was wearing.

"It's not my fault that I'm always cold," Chris retorted, shivering slightly as he said the words. Even though Kansas was still relatively warm in October, there was still a slight breeze in the air, making it chilly.

"I'll keep you warm," Clark blurted out, and then blushed at the innuendo behind his own words.

Chris raised his eyebrows at Clark's comment. "You have to buy me dinner first, Clark," Chris said lightly, knowing that Clark didn't mean his comment to be as sexually suggestive as it came out, or at least he didn't think so. Standing closer to Clark, Chris nodded his head towards the door to the restaurant. "Are you ready to go in? I'm starving."

"Yes, yes," Clark replied, still berating himself for his prior comment. Opening the door for Chris, Clark realized that he was officially on his first date with a man.

Dinner went exceptionally well, and Clark didn't once feel awkward or different being out with Chris. Then they went to the new zombie movie that had come out, and about halfway through the show, Clark felt brave enough to put his arm around Chris.

Chris was surprised when he felt Clark's arm resting on his shoulder, but leaned into the embrace. When they walked out of the theatre, Chris took Clark's hand, intertwining his fingers with Clark's. The two of them stood outside for a few minutes, neither of them wanting to end the evening.

"Well, I better get home," Clark finally said, breaking up the silence that had fallen. Leaning down, he went to give Chris a light kiss on the lips but Chris grabbed the back of Clark's head with one hand and deepened the kiss. "Wow," Clark stuttered, the only word he could think of after the feel of Chris's lips on his.

Chris grinned; it had been an amazing kiss. "So next time, date is on me?" He said with a smirk, assuming that with Clark's reaction, a next date was imminent.

"Sure," Clark said with a smile and then with a wave goodbye, headed off in the direction of home.

Chris turned to go through the alleyway, planning on taking his normal method of transportation back to his apartment, when a demon blinked into his pathway.

"Nyss, what are you doing here? I told you never to contact me, that I would be the one to approach you," Chris said angrily. He glanced back behind him and around in the alleyway to make sure no one had seen the demon suddenly shimmer in.

"I'm done playing games with the son of a Charmed one," Nyss hissed, grabbing Chris's collar. All of a sudden, five darklighters orbed into the alley. "So long, witch," Nyss released his grasp on Chris, shoving him to the ground. The demon waved goodbye as he disappeared back to the Underworld.

"Shit!" Chris swore under his breath, looking at the five darklighters. He hadn't expected Nyss to turn on him and five darklighters was a lot of firepower. The three men in-front of him fired their arrows at him and Chris quickly orbed out of the way. Re-appearing behind the three darklighters, he called for the arrows and with a wave of his arm, vanquished the three quickly.

Hearing raised voices from the alley that Chris had gone down, Clark had back-tracked to make sure he was okay. Chris was talking to a rather sketchy looking man that Clark had never seen before when five archers appeared in black and blue coloured balls of light. The five of them raised their crossbows, seemingly aiming at Chris.

Clark could only watch in wonder as the three of the archers shot off arrows at his date. He started to move to protect Chris, but then Chris just disappeared into blue and white balls of light and reappeared behind the first shooter.

Chris glanced over at the other two darklighters, but was distracted when he saw Clark standing at the end of the alley. "Clark!" Chris shouted. "Get out of here!" He was so focused on Clark that he neglected to see the other darklighters release their arrows.

Clark, realizing that Chris was distracted, super sped over to Chris and shielded him with his body. One arrow was deflected off of Clark's back but the other managed to pierce Chris's side. With an anguished cry, Chris fell to the ground clutching his side. They had to get out of there, and fast. Grabbing Clark's ankle, Chris orbed the two of them back to his apartment.

xxxxx

Clark stumbled as he and Chris reformed in an unknown location. It felt similar to that time that Alicia teleported him out of that abandoned elevator. Looking around at the small room and the hoodies tossed around the space, Clark quickly ascertained that they were in Chris's apartment. Clark tried to wrap his head around how they got there, but was interrupted from his thoughts when he realized that Chris was still crumpled in pain on the floor.

Carefully picking Chris up and laying him down on the couch, Clark scanned his body with his x-ray vision. It didn't look like the arrow had hit anything vital, but Chris was starting to sweat and it didn't look like the pain was receding. And the dark stain on Chris's shirt was still growing. Placing a hand on Chris's forehead and feeling the heat being generated, Clark asked worriedly, "Chris? What's happening?"

Chris opened his eyes to see Clark hovering over him, a concerned look on his face. Chris was surprised that Clark wasn't freaking out more. "P-poison," Chris stuttered, the pain in his side beginning to spread as the darklighter poison flooded through his body. "Need….need to call Wyatt," he whispered, and then passed out due to the pain.

Call Wyatt? Wasn't that his brother? How did that make any sense? Clark thought to himself, confused at Chris's request. Oh well, it wasn't like anything that evening after their date made any sense. A man disappearing in the alley, Chris being able to teleport into blue, white swirly balls of light and evil dudes dressed in black with crossbows. Reaching into Chris's pocket to grab his phone, he looked in the list of contacts for his brother's number. Pressing down on the call button, he waited anxiously for Wyatt to pick up. Clark had thought about rushing Chris to the hospital, but had a feeling that that wouldn't do much to help him.

In P3, Wyatt felt the vibration of his phone in the back of his jeans. The caller id said Chris, which was odd because he was supposed to be out on a date with Clark this evening. Stepping outside, Wyatt answered the call. "Hello?"

"Um, is this Chris's brother, Wyatt?" Clark asked, wanting to make sure it was in fact Chris's brother on the other end.

"Yes, who is this?" Wyatt replied suspiciously. He didn't recognize the voice on the other end of the phone and Chris wasn't one to loan out his phone.

"It's Clark, Chris's friend." Clark replied. "Look, this is going to sound crazy, but Chris has been hurt, some crazy dudes with crossbows and he said to call you? We are at his apartment; I'm assuming you know where that is?" The line suddenly went dead. "Wyatt, are you still there?" Clark asked, glancing down at the phone. Clark started to try to redial when blue and white balls of light entered the room. A tall man formed, with short blond hair and similar build to Chris's. "Wyatt?" Clark questioned, and the man nodded.

Wyatt quickly rushed over to where Chris was lying and placed his hands over the wound. Golden light shone from Wyatt's hands as he healed Chris. "Now we wait," Wyatt said, resting back on his knees. He could tell that the poison was now gone from Chris's system, but sometimes it took a while to regain consciousness.

"Is he going to be alright?" Clark asked nervously.

"Yes, I've removed the poison, but it might be awhile before he wakes up." Wyatt replied, looking questionably at Clark. He was surprised that Clark seemed as calm as he was, after all that he had witnessed that evening. Wyatt stepped into the kitchen, grabbing two chairs and bringing them back into the small living room. Setting one by Chris for Clark, he plopped down in the other.

Clark nodded, thanking Wyatt for the seat. Sitting down next to Chris, Clark hunched over, resting his forearms on his lap. Taking Chris's hand, he got ready for a long wait.

xxxxx

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the reviews so far! I don't have chapter 4 finished yet and I have a busy work week, but I'm still going to try to get it done by next Sunday. Thanks for reading :)