Title: A Whitelighter's Priority
Author: rachelAbendstern
Summary: Spike is... well Spike and Leo is suspicious again
Spoilers: Season 6 Charmed; I forgot to mention BtVS last chapter, 'The Gift'
Disclaimer: Neither Buffy nor Charmed is mine, and I don't make any money with it. Lily though belongs to me XP
6. Family Portrait
Can't we work it out?
Can't we be a family?
I promise I'll be better
Daddy please don't leave.
There were exactly two words that came to Chris' mind when he saw his mother's expression in the entrance hall of the manor.
'Oh shit'
Grabbing the vampire by the neck and yanking him down with him, he was just barely fast enough to get them out of harm's way when the Halliwell matriarch flicked her free hand in – what her future son hoped was – pure instinct. Instead of the vampire and possibly Chris himself, yet another few vases and glasses were pulverised by Piper's powers.
"Oi," Spike's indignant tone startled everyone out of their frozen state when he yanked himself away from Chris' grip. "What the bloody hell d'you do that for!"
The youngest of the sisters stared speechless at him for a moment. Well, all of them did to be precise but Paige regained her composure the fastest and snorted sardonicly amused. "Look at yourself in a mirror for a moment and then ask again, why we are a bit wary of you."
Now, it was Dawn who snorted. "That could turn out to be kind of difficult."
"A bit wary!" Chris all but shrieked at the same time. Was that really his voice? "You almost blowed us both up!"
"Would have served you right for bringing a demon in here!" Piper mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Ah ah!" She then quickly intercepted the vampire with her hand held up at the ready when he wanted to approach Dawn. "You stay where you are fangface!" Spike scoffed impatiently when Chris' mother unknowingly chose the same nickname Xander used so frequently but surprisingly – although glaring at the witch in irritation – did as he was told.
"And you!" She now turned her anger onto Chris. "Have a hell of a lot of explaining to do!"
The sheer familiarity of the situation threw Chris off balance for a moment. How many times had he heard that same sentence when he or Wyatt had done something their mother was never supposed to find out – which she of course almost always did in the end. He felt like a scolded teenager all over again. Which was definately not of the good as Xander would say. He was their Whitelighter, damnit, they weren't supposed to make him feel like that anymore! Or was it not yet?
"Actually, it's my fault. In a way, because there's no fault to begin with," The young man heard Dawn suddenly babble her way through an explanation, focusing all attention on herself for a moment. It gave the young nephalim the time he needed to regain his equilibrium in order to deal with three seriously pissed off and powerful witches. "Spike's appointed himself my guardian or rather my sister, who was the Slayer, did that and Chris only wanted him to know that we're alright."
"Uhuh," Piper sounded a little overwhelmed after the rush of words and still sceptical, not that Chris blamed her. He really would have preferred if the sisters had returned home a bit later. And Spike still showing his demon face didn't help matters either.
"Would someone mind telling me what kind of demon he is anyway?" Phoebe spoke up for the first time, gesturing in her nervous way at the stranger.
"A vampire." Chris informed them rather matter-of-factly. No point in beating around the bush.
He turned his gaze on still amber eyes beside him. "Christ, Spike, could you at least drop your game face!" Noticing the smirk tugging at the corners of the fanged mouth, the young man suddenly realized that the vamp thoroughly enjoyed this commotion he had stirred up. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rolled his eyes at the annoying undead and Spike's features finally melted into his human looking face, smirk firmly in place.
"Whoa!" He turned again to see Phoebe staring at his demonic companion in a funny way, looking him up and down now. "Vampire, huh. Not bad."
"No, he's quite good actually. As in not evil." Chris agreed, intend on lessening the already dying tension. Thank the gods that this family was used to weird situations and even weirder houseguests.
"Oi, pet! I'm evil. I might not be homicidal anymore but I'm still evil!" Of course, he could always count on someone making short work of his plans.
"I'm not your pet, Spike. And you're not really helping our case here!"
"No, he isn't!" Paige laughed suddenly. Taking note of the look her middle sister still gave the bleached stranger – who now in turn wiggled his eyebrows suggestively – she quickly shielded her sibling's eyes with her hand. "I think you already had enough experiences of the demon variety!"
Looking back and forth between her sisters, Piper sighed in defeat and repositioned her sleepy kid on her hip. "You still are in trouble, mister!" She addressed her rogue Whitelighter, although she didn't use as much fervor as a few minutes ago. "And explanations, I want lots of explanations!"
That said, she resolutely climbed the stairs to put the baby back to sleep while Paige turned her attention again on their new acquaintance.
"So. Spike, yeah?" She asked rethorically. "Isn't that, I don't know... a little bit cocky?"
Remembering his own conversation on how exactly Spike had gained that particular nickname, Chris assured her wryly: "You have no idea!"
Registering the stares he got, that ranged from suspicious to shocked to amused, he asked completely bewildered: "What? What did I say now?"
"Err," Phoebe began but her sister interrupted with a question of her own. "Is there something you wanted to tell us about the both of you, Chris?"
"What? No!" What the heck were they talking about now? Not for the first time Chris felt like he had missed out on the important part of their conversation.
Before anyone else had the chance to say anything, Spike decided to clue him in in his own way. Chris felt a leather-covered arm encircling his shoulders and pulling him close to a lean hard chest. "Aw come on, pet!" He heard the familiar voice tinged with mockery near his ear. "Don't ya luv me anymore?"
The shocked young witch turned horror filled eyes to a devilishly smirking vampire as comprehension finally hit him.
First Dawn and now Spike? God, what were those guys taking him for?
666
It was about two hours until sunrise by the time they had finally finished their little discussion round. Until now, the vampire had never really understood why Chris didn't just come out and tell his family plain and simple that he was Piper's second son and had to stop her firstborn from bringing down their world in a sugar-induced powercrazed killing spree.
Now he knew. It had taken ages to convince the family matriarch that Dawn – Dawn! – was nothing more and nothing less than an ordinary teenage girl with some really weird friends, relatives and hobbies. So maybe she was no ordinary teenager but that still didn't make her some dangerous man-eating demon. Ok, and that sounded just plain wrong but anyway.
Point was the little bit was a sweet girl as human as can be – without the bit of her only being a few months old, not that he told those witches that tidbit of information.
To convince them that Spike himself was no threat to them had taken a whole lot more persuasion-skills. They would propably still be arguing about him, had the nibblet not lost her patience and told them about his chip and that he couldn't hurt them even if he wanted to. Not that that was necessarily true. The youngest sister and the little boy were as much halfbreeds as their neurotic young visitor from the future, which meant that he undoubtedly was able to hurt them. But again the sisters didn't need to know that.
As for Chris, the vampire found it hard to believe his family hadn't already made the connection to who he really was – which was a part of their family – by themselves. Apart from the scent which just screamed 'clan' to each demon whose senses were as advanced as Spike's, there were other hints. The way he moved, the way he spoke, his determination, all that he had clearly inherited from his mother. He even looked like her. But apparently, humans only saw what they wanted to see, he of all people should know that.
And they had given the boy hell for bringing two strangers in the manor near the baby. Outwardly, the young man seemed unphased by their treatment, yet his agitation was almost palpable for the sensitve vampire. It surprised him that the boy's telekinesis hadn't raised havoc in the room already.
He could see now, why Chris didn't tell them. They were suspicious enough of him as it was; if he were to tell them about their kinship they would only see another ploy to get near them. It had to hurt like hell being so close to them again and yet farther away than ever. No wonder the boy was so easily getting worked up.
"How can they not see it?" He heard a soft voice next to him. Spike had almost forgotten about the girl at his side. Dawn and he were sitting in the living room alone, while the sisters held a conference in the kitchen and future boy was – where was Chris?
Suddenly becoming aware of the storm outside that seemed to have started out of the blue, an uneasy feeling crept up his spine while answering the little bit.
"Beats me, luv. They have to be blind to not notice."
"To notice what?" The three witches were filtering through the kitchen door again and the shorthaired one obviously had arrived in time to overhear his last remark.
Caught a bit off guard, Spike quickly looked over at the teenager. But the girl already opened her mouth to respond, her answer almost unnoticably underlined with anger: "That Chris only wants to help you! Do you think he would have taken the risk to travel back in time if there hadn't been a good reason? Protecting your family is his first priority, he told us that at the very first night we met."
Spike would have to watch out for the teen, he noticed. She was picking up on his more questionable skills. Of course, what she said was still true but it was certainly not the answer to the witch's question.
However, the witches seemed less than impressed. "He told you that?" the oldest woman, Chris' mother-to-be, snorted derisively. "You shouldn't take everything he says for granted. He lied to us more than once."
His own temper now rising, the vampire sneered at her. "Bloody hell, you are so pigheaded!" He didn't even know why her stubborness infuriated him the way it did. But as he wanted to rant on about their stupidity, his nostrils suddenly caught onto a new scent.
"Spike?" He heard the nibblet asking just as the faint smell registered. It was blood. Chris' blood.
Without caring about the stunned expressions he got, Spike leapt up, out into the hall and up the stairs where the scent was the strongest.
"Chris!"
666
Chris was on his way back from the bathroom when he felt a strong hand roughly grabbing his wrist and the sensation of being orbed against his will tingle all over his body. As soon as he had solid ground under his feet again, he yanked himself away from the offending grip. Through a haze of anger and confusion he recognized his new bearings as his mother's bedroom while all of his attention was now concentrated on the person in front of him who calmly cast a silence barrier over the room.
"What the hell are you playing at, Leo!" He exploded furiously. This bastard was just unbelievable!
"That's what I'd like to know, too, Chris!" The Elder answered with this sort of cold calmness that sent shivers down Chris' spine.
"What did I do now?" Oh, great, no five seconds with that man and he was already in defensive mode. Some things propably never changed. "Is this about bringing Spike and Dawn here? Because, if you care to remember, they are part of the little group you wanted me to watch over! I couldn't very well leave Dawn on her own when Phoebe called me!"
"First of all," his father replied, his voice rising just a little in irritation, "I wanted you to watch over Willow and Tara and not all of them! What the hell did you think bringing a vampire here!"
As Chris wanted to put in an objection, his future father held up his hand angrily, stopping him effectively before he even got one word out.
"And second, that's not what I came here for!" Leo held up his other hand, letting the pendant he had hidden there dangle on its cord in front of Chris' face. "This is!"
Of course he recognized the dull green amulet. The halfbreed just didn't want to think about that right now. Couldn't the Elder let it go and just accept what his stay in Valhalla had taught him?
"I don't have time for this!" He told Leo with a nervous laugh and tried to move past him.
But the older man obviously had other plans. "Oh no. We'll talk about this; now!" Reluctantly following the hand that suddenly gripped his elbow, he moved in front of Leo once more.
"I was willing to cut you some slack before, Chris. But not after I found out about this! You killed a valkyrie to get this. Whitelighter's don't kill, or didn't you read the manual!"
That self-righteous son of a bitch! He knew that he had done things he was not proud of and that was definately one of them, but he had done what he had to do, damnit! Growing up the way he did, it was kill or get killed and he had had a hard enough time to get used to the way things worked in this time.
"But it's alright for an Elder?" Chris asked mockingly, letting none of his rage show through even though he felt his powers threatening to break loose again. "You have valkyrie-blood on your hands, too."
"Fighting to protect the sisters!"
Chris couldn't help but sneer at that weak defense. "Oh. So that makes you the noble one."
Leo didn't take the bait though. He just stared the halfbreed down before continuing: "Face it, Chris, I got you this time!" Yeah, like avoiding the subject would make it any less true.
"This is enough to get your Whitelighter status stripped and your soul send back to earth for recycling!"
And how corny did that sound, recycling a soul like it was trash. Then again, this was Leo he was talking to, so maybe it was exactly what the Elder was thinking. Not like that was anything new.
"The Elders have already arranged the hearing."
White hot hate seared through Chris at the calm statement. That was just so like them!
"You would!" He hissed, while outside the window dark clouds gathered quickly, blocking the stars from view. "That's all you ever do!" He wasn't quite sure himself whether he meant his father or the Elders in general while he watched the confusion creeping onto Leo's features.
"What are you talking about, Chris?"
"You bailed on us!" The young witch blew up in the other man's face as rain started to pound on the windows.
"You self-righteous bastards! You always interfere at the worst moments possible, and when we really need you, you just sit up there in Elderland, talking some shit about discussing things calmly while there's innocents dying down on earth. You just sat in your sacred council all high and mighty, watching the world go down in a basket case while claiming it was all part of some fucked-up Grand Design! And when you finally figured something was wrong, it was too late to do anything and it got you killed! So excuse me if I don't think your way to handle things will work!"
Windows rattling under a particularly strong gust of wind brought Chris back to reality. He couldn't believe he had let himself go like this. He couldn't believe it still hurt that bad.
"Shit!" Raking his hands through his hair, he turned towards the window even as the storm calmed down with his draining emotions, while his father stood shellshocked at this unexpected outburst.
"Chris," he heard Leo taking a step toward him, but they both stopped dead when they suddenly heard a low keening coming from Wyatt's room on the other side of the corridor.
Chris' whole body went cold as he thought of the possible explanations. "Wyatt..."
Without heeding the other man, he quickly orbed into his brother's room.
666
Trying to shake off his confusion, Leo quickly followed the younger Whitelighter's example and orbed into Wyatt's room.
He arrived to a minor disaster. His little son had his protective shield up, tears spilling down his cheeks while Chris knelt on the floor, clutching a hand to his shoulder where protruded what seemed to be a Darklighter arrow. Casting a quick glance around the room, he found the Darklighter who the arrow belonged to standing in the far corner, a triumphous sneer plastered on his face.
"He said, you'd show up if I threatened the infant!" Leo couldn't make anything of that information, but he saw Chris' head snap up. There was an unreadable expression on the boy's face when he forcefully wrenched the arrow out, throwing it away from both him, Leo and Wyatt and standing up to face the dark creature.
"You think you can kill me this easily?"
Despite his contemptuous words, Leo could already see the poison taking effect by Chris' pale and sweaty skin.
If only he could figure this boy out. His earlier outburst was the most honest reaction the Elder had ever seen Chris show, and he really didn't like what his furious words had implied. His attempts at keeping Wyatt save weren't an act either, apparently. But why was keeping his son save so important?
Wanting to help Chris for the time being but not willing to be the first to break the fragile cease-fire, Leo just stood there for a few seconds. He didn't have to wait long however. Barging through the door in a swirl of black leather and yellow eyes just seconds after the Elder himself had arrived there, the vampire burst into the room, quickly taking stock of the situation.
The man completely understood now why people harboured such a primal fear of those creatures of the night. Fangs to the fore, yellow eyes blazing with anger and bloodlust, Spike looked nothing short of the ferocious monster the legends described.
Startled by a sudden hissing sound, he looked at the Darklighter who held his crossbow raised in the demon's direction.
"Bloody hell!" Spike didn't sound too happy at but not particularly affected either by the shaft sticking out of his stomach. "Be careful where you aim that at, would you!"
"Get Wyatt out of here, Leo!" For once not questioning Chris' words, the older man hastened to snatch his son out of his cot, orbing them into the hallway where the sisters and the girl were stumbling up the stairway just as the Darklighter's weapon went flying.
Another few heartbeats later they all heard something like a twig snapping and then the roaring of flames before complete silence settled over the manor and Leo guessed the vampire had snapped the attacker's neck.
They all took a glance at each other before bolting for the door. Inside the room, they found the young Whitelighter leaning against the wall, eyes closed and breathing heavily while Spike stood near him, watching him in some kind of reluctant concern. For a vampire he sure did act out of character, Leo mused distractedly. Yellow eyes fastened on his form and the Elder felt a shiver go down his spine.
"You bloody well better heal him, git!"
Rembering the arrow, Leo handed a now silently watching Wyatt over to his mother and hurried over to heal the poisoned wound. Never mind his ambivalent feelings for the boy, he wouldn't just let him die and certainly not without getting a few answers first.
"He does like to swear a lot, doesn't he?" Phoebe's voice broke the strained atmosphere, the teen's answering chuckle doing the rest at relieving the almost painful tension.
"You bet your ass!"
Taking a step back to survey his junior Whitelighter when he had completed his task, Leo decided to let loose on a few of his questions. Starting with: "Why is it so important to save Wyatt? What could possibly be evil and powerful enough to threaten this whole world?"
Chris squirmed under his gaze uncomfortably. "I can't tell you."
Anger flared up in Leo at Chris' usual response to those kind of questions. "Damnit, Chris. This is my son we're talking about! You better well tell me what's going to happen!"
"I can't!" The younger man almost desperately held his ground. "I already said way too much as it is!"
"Like that's going to help any!"
As the young man remained silent, Leo tried a different approach. "Why was this Darklighter after you?"
This time, Chris looked him straight in the eyes when he answered: "Because I pissed someone off. Someone with enough power to hire an assassin."
His temper rising again, the Elder accused him icily: "You put my family in danger, because you pissed some demon off?"
A low growl beside him abruptly reminded Leo of the presence of the vampire and he chanced a quick glance at the demon. Spike wore his human face once more but his eyes flashed a dangerous amber.
"Nibblet!" He heard the distinct British accent even in this one word. For a moment, Leo didn't know who Spike had addressed until the girl walked over to them. Taking her hand and grabbing Chris by the wrist, the demon exclaimed: "Time to go home!" In fact, it was more of a poorly concealed order.
Calming down a bit, the older man tried to hold them back. "Chris..."
"Don't." The boy's voice suddenly sounded tired.
After a last weary glance at the Halliwell family, white blue orbs surrounded the small group and seconds later they were gone.
Facing the blank wall now, Leo swore under his breath. He could feel the sisters watching him, but he didn't turn around for another few moments. Somehow, this young man always manage to make his blood boil. And he actually believed Chris' intentions even though his actions were more than dubious at times.
The boy's emotional outburst from before kept gnawing on his insides. He would definately try his best at convincing the other Elders to let Chris keep his Whitelighter status, if only to buy some time so he could uncover his secrets.
666
"God, Chris, what were you thinking!"
Leo angrily scolded his son, while Chris stood defiantly in front of him, arms protectively crossed over his chest, looking anywhere but at his father.
The Elder had caught him training with Bianca and to say he was less than pleased about that discovery would be the understatement of the year. Leo was furious.
"She's a Phoenix, Chris! She's evil! You cannot trust her! What were you thinking!"
"I was thinking it couldn't hurt to learn how to defend myself!" The boy finally burst out. "What would you say if I told you that Wyatt originally hired her to get me?"
"Damnit, Chris!" His enraged father rounded on him. "I told you before to stop lying about your brother! Why do you do this to me? Don't you think I haven't got enough problems to take care of without you trying to get your brother into trouble?"
That stung. Why couldn't his father see the truth? Why did he always believe Wyatt over him? He propably didn't even know that Chris had moved out of the manor some months ago, seeing as he only ever came down to earth anymore when he was called for or when he accidentally saw Chris doing something he didn't approve of and decided to play parent again. He looked at the man who called himself his father and only saw another self-righteous Elder standing in front of him, trying to keep up some pretence of having a family. Well, consequences be damned.
"You're precious twice-blessed Wyatt is the reason for all your trouble, why can't you see that? You sit up there with your beloved freaking pacifist friends playing allmighty judges and closing your eyes to the truth! This world has turned into a demon's playground and you still have the audacity to talk about not being allowed to interfere because everything happens for a fucking reason! Open your eyes, Leo! This city is a battlefield and you don't even notice! Innocents die, demons wrack havoc and obey Wyatt's every bid and command! What else has to happen for you to finally believe me!"
A loud smack and a sharp sting on his cheek ended his rant. Chris stared at his father incredulously, reaching a hand up to cup his cheek. Suddenly he felt drained. And defeated. His father would never believe him.
"I won't allow you to talk like that about your brother. And I will not allow you to see that woman again!"
"And how exactly are you planning to stop me?" Chris challenged him eerily calm. He couln't muster up the energy to be angry anymore. It wasn't worth it anyway because his father wouldn't listen.
"How will you stop me? You haven't been a father to me for longer than I care to remember. Do you want to put me under arrest when you're never actually there to make sure I obey you?"
He smiled sadly at the Elder's gobsmacked expression. It was time to cut his losses.
"I know you always favored my brother because of his abduction. But you cannot excuse everything with that tragedy."
Summoning up his remaining strength and courage, he bid a last farewell to his father. "Don't come after me again, father. I'm done with you. If you want to be blind that's fine with me but don't blame me if that little dream-world of yours comes crashing down one day. Take care."
Chris orbed out before his tears started to fall, leaving a father behind who didn't know what hit him.
tbc
A/N: Sorry, guys - and girls;). I tried to upload this yesterday but the document was rejected. Or my PC just didn't want to play nice...
Hope you enjoyed this, it's a bit longer again.
And for the record, the theme above is from 'Family Portrait' by Pink.
On to the reviews ;)
Lonnie: Thanks :P
phoebe turner: Wow, I didn't know I had that much an impact
Anigen: Thanks. Actually I don't know what that wordmeans but I just take it as a compliment ;)
Yoshimi Wolfspaw: Thanks. And thanks for the information. Did you talk to Karone Evertree:)
huge fan: Thank you! I updated :P
See ya all next week :)
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