Title: A Whitelighter's Priority
Author: rachelAbendstern
Summary: Chris' talk with VIctor :) and a bit more...
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
9. Plan B
Wenn die Zeit es zeigt wird man sehen, ob wir die richtigen Wege gehen.
Die Überlebenszeit ist jetzt, denn die Messer sind gewetzt.
Der Schwätzer hat geschwätzt. Die Kampagne hat gehetzt.
Die Regeln sind verletzt. Überlebenszeit ist jetzt.
Kümmer dich um dein Leben und dann kümmer dich um uns!
Die Schäden können wir beheben. Das ist nicht die Kunst.
Wir müssen was bewegen, sonst bewegt sich nichts.
Es geht nicht nur um dein Leben, sondern ob es ein Leben ist.
'Was insanity contagious?', Piper wondered while she looked askance at the vampire beside her. It certainly seemed like it, and Chris had been the first one to be infected. Or why else would she have a frigging demon hitting on her right now.
It was fascinating in a way. The vamp didn't look half bad and was even charming in his own rude arrogant way. And how bad did she need a love life again if she even began to think of a vampire of all people as a possible suitor?
Anyways, insanity. It had all started with Chris brewing some kind of potion last week that was supposed to make the three of them immune to the mental powers of the demon they were hunting that day. Well, instead of doing whatever that potion was supposed to be doing, their young Whitelighter had had a hard time at trying to stop her and her sisters from eating him alive with the sudden passion that burned them up after drinking said potion.
Piper actually believed him this time when he told them afterwards that he had no idea whatsoever what had gone wrong. The expression on his face when they had closed in on him, their eyes burning with desire, was enough to get a laugh out of her for weeks. He had looked genuinely freaked out when Phoebe had managed to get her arms around him and demanded a kiss.
While she couldn't decide whether or not to be insulted by his reaction – hey, even if she didn't want him, he could at least have pretended she still held a certain sex-appeal for men – she had been relieved beyond imagination when the effects of the potion finally had worn off after half an hour. This experience had certainly taught her not to leave the potions work to their young Whitelighter.
Beginning with that incident, the week had been the essence of insanity in her mind. Chris had been acting plain weird after that potions accident – well more so than usual. What truly troubled her about it however was that she seemed to get stuck in the strangest situations together with her ex-husband. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been constantly reminded of what she didn't have anymore – and that at a time when she had thought to finally be able to move on.
"William!" she eventually ground out. There was absolutely no way whatsoever she would call anyone by that other reference, especially after she had learned how exactly he had come by the name of 'Spike'.
"You are not hitting on me, are you?"
"Oi!" the demon sounded genuinely indignant. "You sound like my poof of a sire with that tone of voice!"
"Should I be insulted?" Piper menacingly held up her hands. Not that she really had the intention of blowing him up – at least not because of his current strange but nevertheless harmless behaviour – but the momentary look of stunned shock on this century old creature was too good to miss.
"Probably not..."
The witch allowed herself a satisfied smirk at his response and – just for good measure – patted him patronisingly on his bleached hair.
"Good boy!"
Despite the low growl and twitching eyes, Piper thought she caught a similar smirk on his face before he stepped back again, handing the last of the streamers up to an impatiently waiting Leo, who glared down at them from his perch on the ladder.
She had to admit she could understand why Chris seemed to like the odd vampire.
And on the bright side of his peculiar advances, there was a jealous Leo. As much as she understood why Leo had had to go and even if she had learned to live without him by now, it was nice to be the centre of her former Whitelighter's attention again. Perhaps he would stay around more often if...
No, Piper immediately chastised herself. If she couldn't have him, it would be too painful for her to have him around even more often, as last week had proved abundantly.
But loath as she was to admit it, she didn't like Dawn's obvious crush on Leo either. It grated on her nerves to hear the girl constantly mooning over her ex-husband. Dawn didn't stand a chance, she was much too young and Piper knew that, but she couldn't help but resent another woman obsessing over her former Whitelighter. And how pathetic was it that she was jealous of a teenage girl!
It only proved her point though: this week had been insane!
Well, it was time to see how her cookies were faring. The ex-chef had to begrudgingly admit that Chris did have a hand at that kind of work. And she should probably save him from her father while she was at it. Her old man was not known for his fondness of Whitelighters – not that she could blame him – and she thought she had seen him walking into the kitchen a while back.
666
WOW! Jesus frigging Christ!
Victor was so stunned he had to lean back against the door to keep his knees from buckling while the boy turned around, looking for all the world like a trapped feline ready to jump or strike, whatever would bring him out of harm's way.
He had seen the resemblance, the Halliwell blood in this boy the instance he had looked into his face. And back in the living room his girls had told him everything that had taken place in the last few months; from some kind of ancient gods trying to destroy the world, to Chris arriving out of the blue to help them, Leo becoming an Elder (thus having even less time for his own damn family), Piper's and Leo's split up (the best thing his daughter could ever have done in his opinion), Chris becoming their new Whitelighter, their distrust in the boy's intentions (and how in hell did that British punk manage to sound like an angry wolf on that occasion!).
The man had put two and two together then and what he came up with didn't really put his girls into such a shining light. If the boy really was who Victor suspected him to be, then he deserved to be treated one hell of a lot better by the sisters and Leo. His own family for god's sake! Couldn't they see that? Even if they were oblivious to the physical resemblance, who better to go back through time than family to do what he came here to do? Who else would know enough about them to even remotely be able to handle them?
When Victor saw the boy standing in the kitchen working on a batch of chocolate chip cookies, his last doubts had vanished. He just looked too much like Piper at this moment not to be her son. Given Chris' obvious refusal to tell his family the truth however, Victor had decided to catch him off-guard then.
But knowing this strange young man was your daughter's future son and him admitting to it were two different things altogether.
Taking a deep breath to get his whirling emotions under control, the man took a step away from the door and forward to his grandson – his grandson for god's sake! - watching the young man in front of him with intent interest.
"So," he asked, unable to keep his voice completely steady, "are you Wyatt in disguise or are you his – unborn – younger brother?"
"I'm not Wyatt!" Whoa, why the sudden malice?
The boy seemed to be shocked himself at his own words. Pushing away from the counter he had been leaning on and raking his hands through his hair, he apologized in a softer voice: "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just..."
"I caught you off-guard." Victor finished the sentence for him, somewhat sorry himself for putting the boy on the spot.
"Very!" Chris laughed a nervous laugh while watching him through the strands of dark hair which kept falling into his eyes. The older man had the sudden unreasonable urge to put a comb to the mop of brown hair.
"I should have known, really," the boy remarked with a crooked smile. "You were always able to figure me out. So, what gave me away?"
Sitting down on a chair, propping his head on his hands which he had placed on the table, Victor observed the young man curiously. He still couldn't get over the fact that his grandson was standing in front of him, a grandson that hadn't even been born yet for that matter!
"A few things actually," he finally answered. "You look so much like Piper." Ignoring the snort that followed that proclamation for the moment he continued, "And your reaction to your mother's words when she came to greet me. When the girls told me that you were from the future... not that I want to think too much about that fact... I just had to put two and two together."
Chris gave him a somewhat sad smile. Wracking his head in order to find some sort of comforting words, Victor wondered helplessly what kind of comfort he could give a kid whose family treated him like an outsider because they didn't even know his identity.
The moment was disrupted by the stop-watch however and Chris stooped quickly to get another batch of cookies out of the oven, instantly replacing it by the one he had prepared when Victor had found him. He really was his mother's son, the man noted wryly amused.
After the shock of his discovery had died down, curiosity claimed him with a vengeance. Perhaps, the boy would answer his questions now that he was found out.
"So, when will you be born? Is Leo your father? Well he must be considering you have this Whitelighter orbing and all. Why did you come here? What could be dangerous enough that the girls couldn't take care of any other way? Or... wait, don't tell me they died, did they?" The last thought came unbidden and sent a cold shiver down his spine. It would make sense knowing Chris' story – or the part of it that was obvious at any rate – but Victor really didn't want to think about that.
His grandson – his grandson; would he ever get over that? - looked slightly overwhelmed at his rush of words at first, but then grimaced, clearly torn between what he wanted to do and what he knew was the right thing to do. Victor knew then and there that his questions wouldn't be answered, and he completely understood Piper's frustration now. But unlike his daughter, he saw that it wasn't exactly easy on Chris to keep his secrets.
"I can't tell you." He heard the boy's strained voice.
"Future consequences..." Victor intoned together with him. At Chris' surprised look, he explained. "Piper was whining about it. And Phoebe and Paige. Even Leo seemed a bit frustrated."
Watching the boy seriously, he asked the one question that had him bothered ever since he realized that the sisters didn't know about their Whitelighter's relationship to them. "Why don't you tell them, Chris? They would believe you a lot easier if they knew your identity."
To his surprise, the half-breed snorted derisively. "Yeah! As if they would believe that in the first place!" Sighing, not looking at his grandfather, he crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture of defence. "Besides, I wouldn't trust myself to do what I have to do if they knew."
"Do what?" Victor asked confused.
The boy squirmed a bit under his gaze before replying. "Go back to the future after all this is over."
Somehow, Victor knew this answer was only part of the truth, but he decided to let it go for now. Having heard the girls whine, Chris wasn't likely to answer him anyway.
"Will you tell them?" Chris' voice sounded surprisingly small.
"No," his grandfather replied sternly. "That is your job!" Like hell he would be the centre of one of Piper's temper tantrums!
"Thanks."
Heaving a sigh Victor dared to ask one more question. "Can you at least tell me, if we're close in the future?"
Unexpectedly, a huge smile lit up the young man's features. "Yeah, you're awesome, grandpa!"
Unexpected indeed, in more ways than one; but it definitely warmed an old man's heart to be called grandpa with such unfeigned enthusiasm.
666
Opening the door to the kitchen, fearing for the worst, Piper called almost overly cheerful: "How are my cookies?"
To her great surprise it didn't appear as if Chris needed saving. The two men were sitting companionable at the kitchen table obviously in the middle of a conversation and had looked up startled when she had entered. Huh. What could possibly be the reason that her father acted polite – more than polite it seemed – around this particular Whitelighter when she and her sisters had told him only minutes ago that none of them really knew whether or not to trust him?
"Well, they are not eaten yet..." Her father answered her with a longing gaze on the counter, where the cookies were cooling down.
The witch saw the small amused smile tugging on Chris' lips and turned to him somewhat amazed. "You're still alive after talking to my father? Wow. He's still hardly able to act civil around Leo, let alone like him!"
That said, she could witness Chris' whole demeanour changing. In a matter of seconds, the small smile was wiped off his lips and his brows furrowed over now familiar guarded green eyes. Leaning back in his chair, he scolded her: "You don't need to sound so disappointed, you know."
Piper could tell he was about to walk out of the room like he always did if he wanted to avoid confrontation – which conveniently enough always only happened when the Charmed One thought she was about to learn something about the mysterious young man – when he pushed back from the table and stood up. He didn't get far though, because as soon as he stood upright, all colour drained from his face all of a sudden and he swayed dangerously on his two feet. Both the woman and her father were at his side in an instance, preventing him from collapsing to the floor.
Dimly, Piper recalled her sisters telling her that Chris had seemed unwell this whole week but only now did she notice herself how bad the boy looked. He was white as a sheet at the moment which only pronounced the dark circles under his eyes even more. Falling into mother-hen-mode despite herself, the witch felt his forehead with a concerned frown on her face. Chris had broken out into a cold sweat.
"Chris?" Piper asked him even as her father forced the young man to sit down again. "What's wrong?" Could Whitelighters even get ill? Leo certainly never had, unless there had been an unnatural reason...
"I'm fine!" And could that boy get any more stubborn? Here he was, his head leaning on the table, only barely keeping the shaking of his body in check, all the while claiming he was alright! What did he think!
"Yeah, right..." she commented, sarcasm dripping from her every word. She could not help but be concerned.
Turning his head slightly on the table, he cast her a weary look. "I just didn't get enough sleep lately. Honestly, I'm only tired."
She almost believed him. Almost. There was something in the way his eyes wouldn't completely meet hers that made her believe there was more to his momentary weakness than he let on. But she decided to let him go for now, knowing his stubbornness nearly matched her own in fervour.
Exchanging a doubtful but resigned glance with her father, she gave in. "Fine. But then maybe you should take Dawn and William back to Sunnydale and finally get some of that sleep. You won't help anyone if you drop dead from exhaustion."
Silently nodding in agreement, Chris got up, more carefully this time and made his way into the living room while Victor asked: "William? You mean that eccentric young man who kept flirting with you?"
They heard a snort in front of them and Chris' usual sardonic voice told her father: "I doubt you're even half his age!"
Confused but clearly suspicious, the older man looked back and forth between his daughter and her Whitelighter, narrowing his eyes on Piper. "What?"
Oh dear. The woman had absolutely no idea how to break to her father that a vampire had helped with the preparations of the birthday party of his only grandson; and a pretty good idea as to what he was likely to say once he found out...
666
For the first time in weeks, Chris didn't actually feel all that guilty over letting himself relax for once.
Lying on the living room couch in the Summers house – he had abandoned sleeping at the club altogether long ago – Chris replayed the events of this night in his mind. He really was drop-dead-tired, but he was still too worked up to actually be able to rest.
Facing his grandpa in the kitchen, the witch hadn't known what to feel when the older man had busted him. He had been aware of the fact that Victor had seen some family resemblance in him, but never would he have thought that his grandfather, who wanted magic to be as small a part in his life as possible, would connect all dots in the picture and confront him about his heritage.
But like he already had said, he really should have known better. After all, he knew his grandpa well enough by now, and even though this man wasn't exactly the grandfather he knew yet, the man didn't lack intelligence.
Despite his fear to change things that weren't supposed to be changing he was kind of glad the man knew the truth. He had missed talking to him. It had been one of the few things that had kept him sane after his mother's death. His father had been too caught up in his own grief to even give the remotest bit of comfort to his two sons and after they all had regained some semblance of normality in their lives, the Elder had continued to do what he had done before the Event – favouring Wyatt and ignoring Chris' very existence most of the time. The talks with his grandpa had been his anchor to reality in a time where the very foundations of his whole world had been shaken. The old man had listened to his rants, dried his tears, bore the brunt of his anger, had talked to him or had kept him silent company, whatever Chris had needed the most in the various situations. He had simply been there for him.
By the time Wyatt was well on his way to become the most dangerous being in their world, Victor was in and out of hospital with lung cancer. It had hurt Chris in his soul to see his strong grandfather wasting away like that and he had tried to keep his knowledge secret that the man's eldest grandson was the reason the city was slowly falling into ruins. But Victor had seen right through Chris and demanded to tell him the truth. Unlike the half-breed's own father, Victor was not too blinded by his love for his grandson to acknowledge the harsh facts even though it pained him.
It had been Victor who first had come up with the idea that something had managed to screw with his brother's mind when he had been abducted as a kid. When the resistance that had formed around an unwilling Chris had grown more and more desperate, it had been only a small step from there to him being send back in time to prevent that from happening. By the time Bianca and he had formed a plan to get a hold of the Book of Shadows and open a portal – with Chris keeping his powers once he was in the past – his grandfather didn't have much time left.
Thus, seeing him standing in his full strength and health again, being able to talk to him without having to pretend he didn't know his grandpa, Chris couldn't help but feel happy. And unlike the sisters and Leo, his grandpa didn't push when his grandson told him he couldn't speak about something. He was not exactly pleased about the secrecy either, but he had tried to work his way around the sensitive issues when they had talked in the kitchen before Piper had interrupted them.
Smirking, Chris remembered his mother's surprise when she had found her father and Whitelighter peacefully sitting around the kitchen table. Knowing his grandfather's dislike for Whitelighters, Piper had probably anticipated the kitchen to be a battlefield by the time she had arrived.
As for Piper and Leo... well, he would just have to wait and hope for the best. Surprisingly enough, Dawn's and Spike's little scheme seemed to have taken some kind of effect. He was pretty sure the two menaces didn't mean to make his parents jealous but, knowing his parents, it was likely to have more influence on their actions than anything else they might have done. Chris just hoped it would be enough for him to still be alive come tomorrow night.
666
It was afternoon on the next day by the time Dawn finally came home from school. Today of all days she had to have afternoon classes! She hadn't been able to sit still all day, always on edge until one of her friends had finally snapped at her and demanded to know what the hell was wrong with her. Since she couldn't exactly tell her that one of her friends might very well die tonight, she tried to reign in her anxiety from then on. But she had been waiting every minute of that day for the final bell to ring! Not knowing whether or not they had succeeded in bringing Piper and Leo back together drove her crazy.
In a way, the girl thought wryly, Chris was lucky that she had to go to school instead of staying at home, worrying about him and fussing over him every minute until they knew he was safe.
The young nephalim had still been sleeping when she had left for today and she hadn't had the heart to wake him. He had looked terrible last night when they had left Halliwell manor. So, entering the house, she checked the living room first thing but didn't see him there. Thinking he might have orbed to San Francisco again, the girl sighed in worried irritation and made her way over to the kitchen. There was no way she could eat anything while she was so keyed up but she rather waited in the kitchen than anywhere else and she could really use a glass of orange juice now – or some of that booze Spike liked to drink; not that anyone would approve of that.
All feelings of uncertain impatience dissipated however as she saw her witch-friend slouched over the counter in the kitchen.
"Chris?" Dawn asked hesitantly, taking a halting step forward, already fearing the worst. Tentative relief rose in her though when she saw his head moving slightly.
"Dawn?" she heard him whisper.
After that she was at his side in a second, kneeling down next to him and asking: "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for the room to stop spinning."
Dawn almost grinned in relief when she heard the dry humour in his words. If he still was able to joke, there was still hope left. Well, if he was dizzy, it would be best if he would lay down again, the girl decided. So she got up and grabbed him by his arm. "Let's get you back to living room."
At that, Chris turned his head slightly to look up at her. "No, Dawn," he objected to her surprise with quiet amusement. "I'm too heavy for you."
"Yeah, right," Dawn snorted. "You're but skin and bones." And he was. The previous days had taken their toll on the young witch, a fact that both Dawn and Spike had noted earlier this week with growing concern.
"Come on," she tugged on his sleeve, "If you'll just lean on me, we'll be fine."
666
Peeking through the door into the murky, mouldy room behind Dawn tried to tell if the vampire who lived in this crypt was awake at this time of day. Seeing no sign of Spike up there she quickly made her way into the lower level where the blonde had his bed, couch and television, hoping he was as restless as she had been and awake. She really didn't need the experience of waking him if he still was asleep. Spike had a habit to sleep nude, a fact that she had found out the hard way once and she really didn't want a repeat performance. Not that he looked bad, on the contrary. But she hadn't been able to look at him without blushing furiously for over a week.
The reason she was even here now was her anxiety for their young Whitelighter. She had managed to get him into the living room earlier, swaying and stumbling, but they had managed. But Chris' sudden weakness had her more than a little worried and she had decided not to rely on the hope anymore that their little scheme had worked. It was time for 'Plan B'. Dawn only hoped Spike had a 'Plan B'.
666
"Spike?"
The familiar voice of his nibblet woke him out of the light doze he had fallen into about an hour ago. Rubbing his eyes with his hands, the vampire stretched his sore muscles before turning around to face the girl. Even for the undead, falling asleep half slumped over the arm of a couch wasn't precisely a comfortable position. Since he had been sure not to get any sleep today, he had opted for the television and trying to shove away his anxiety by watching some of the soaps they were showing at this time of day. Not that he actually was anxious. No, not at all!
"What's up, nibblet?"
"Are you dressed?"
That question brought an evil smirk onto his features. Not too long ago, the teen had walked in on him as he was just about to get out of bed and dress. The girl had wheeled around on her heels, blushing and stammering apologies. It had been hilarious in his point of view.
But then the smirk vanished slowly as he thought about what could bring her here today.
"I am," he replied and watched her climbing down the stairs. "What's up?"
"Chris," the little bit answered shortly. His mind reeling with the possible implications, he growled impatiently at her.
"What's wrong with him?"
Having spent quite some time with the impatient vampire, the teen wasn't easily intimidated by his demeanour, so her voice was calm as she told him: "I don't know. Maybe it's nothing, but... I just think we should have done something more to help him. What if it didn't work? We might have managed to make them jealous, but that's hardly enough to be sure they are going to screw tonight."
She was right and he knew it. That was why he wasn't able sleep today after all. Taking a few moments to go through the options left, he decided to try something Chris himself had failed at.
"Are the witches home yet?" He asked the girl who sat on the back of his couch.
"They should be by now. Why?"
Good. The boy might not have been able to put his parents under a spell, but if the vampire remembered correctly, there was that little personal gain clause good witches had to pay heed to. The Sunnyhell witches would be doing the spell for another not for themselves.
"Because we won't take any chances anymore!" He got up and dragged her after him by her wrist. "Come on, let's go!"
666
Willow was watching as her lover covered their sleeping Whitelighter with a blanket. She had to admit now that Tara had been right about something being wrong with him. Chris looked like hell. They had come back from university only to find the young half-breed sleeping on their couch once again; which wouldn't really have been unusual if it hadn't been bright day light.
If only they knew what the problem was, maybe they were able to help him. The witch had grown rather fond of him, even if he was a little bit more than neurotic at times. But hey, they all had their quirks especially her little group of friends. And even if the sisters really were his first priority, he had never let them down so far. Considering he had all but moved into the house with them she thought it was safe to say that he liked them as well. Hell, even Spike had a soft spot for him almost as big as the one the vamp had for Dawn.
Hearing loud swearing coming from the entrance door, Willow turned around to see Dawn patting out smoking spots on afore mentioned vampire's back. Spike himself had thrown the blanket he had been covered with to escape direct sunlight onto the floor, stomping with his feet on the smouldering rug while mumbling something like 'bloody hell' and 'soddin' sunlight'. That was just so like Spike, the witch thought with an amused smile on her face.
"Spike! What are you doing here?" She asked him curiously. "It's not even dusk yet."
"I need a love spell!" He answered matter of fact.
"What!" The vampire didn't really mean that, did he? Noticing his completely serious face, Willow shook her head vigorously. "Oh no. No, no, no. No more love spells for you, mister!" She vividly remembered a former demand like that and its outcome.
Marking the confusion on both Dawn's and Tara's faces – who had come to stand beside her – she made to explain: "He once wanted me to do a love spell when Dru dumped him..."
"No time for that, witch," Spike interrupted her with a low growl. Obviously the Drusilla-issue still stung. "Besides it's not for myself!"
Now that made her curious. Who did he want a love spell for if not himself?
Listening to Dawn and Spike explain the situation in Halliwell manor she had the sudden urge to bang her head against the wall or strangle both the vampire and the teen – none of which probably were particularly healthy.
Why had they not come to Tara and her for help at once? That's what friends were there for after all and it was not like they didn't have the means to help!
Giving both of them an evil glare and a promise of later demise satisfied her at least a little bit especially since Tara did exactly the same thing.
Coming up with an appropriate spell thereafter was not much of a problem.
So, lighting the candles and incense a little while later, the two witches intoned:
"Passion lost shall once more be won
To save the life of a future son.
Let Piper's and Leo's love shine alight
For their child must be conceived tonight!"
Now all they had to do was wait...
tbc
A/N: I was invited on a birthday yesterday and I completely forgot! Well, at least I managed to get a present in time…
Anyways, I handled the whole possibly-not-being-conceived-effects a little different, I know. That whole disappearing thing just didn't sit well with me. I more or less understand it this first time in "Courtship…" but in "Bad bad World" it's just plain weird. I mean, even if he was from the future, Chris was a living person, he was flesh and blood, so time-traveller or no, there should have been a corpse, especially since it wasn't the 'possibility' of this Chris was killed but future Chris himself, if you know what I mean. Not that he should have died in the first place…
Enough ramble, on to the reviews:
phoebe turner: Thanks! And it was about the same size, I checked ;)
YoshimiWolfspaw: Thanks to you too! I will try :)
mewer44444: I would love to email you (not that I have that other story yet, although I have something in mind) but I need a complete email adress to do that… It broke up after the in your review :( But anyways, thanks:)
redfox88: Did you recognize your idea? I didn't think about the jealousy-factor until you mentioned it, so a huge thanks! Chris getting a break? You don't know me… :) Although I guess he deserved one lol
Lonnie: …well yeah, I guess you do :)
Sallywags: Well there you go lol
hope master: Thanx!
Oh, here's the translation for the beginning, 'Dein Leben' by 'Soehne Mannheims':
When time will tell, we will see if we are going down the right paths.
Survival time is now, because the knives are already sharpened.
The babbler has ranted, the campaign has harassed.
The rules are broken. Survival time is now.
Take care of your life first and then take care of us!
We can repair the damage. That's not the problem.
We have to move something or else nothing will move.
It's not only about your life but if it is a life at all.