Disclaimer: Blah. Blah. Do not own. If I did, I would have shot them for the crappy effects in season 8. Really. Have a little pride, guys. Moving on...
Chapter Three: Secret Secrets.
November 16th, 2025
"You know this will never work, don't you."
Chris barely stopped, mid-motion, trying not to let the words take on any meaning. Trying not to pay attention to the defeated tilt to Bianca's stance. He could barely even see her though the lattices and leftover construction equipment that choked the floor of P3. She was just flashes of color illuminated behind tarps, carefully separated from him... unreachable.
He shook his head sharply and turned back to place the last two warding crystals at the base of the door, each lighting up pleasantly to tell them they were safe. Bianca shifted slightly, arms crossed loosely as she looked up into the stage lights above her. Chris crossed the floor slowly, using the time to steel himself.
"Don't worry," He said finally, reaching the base of the stage and staring up at her, "They won't find you here. There's almost as many wards here as Magic School."
Bianca looked down at him, fingers drumming on her arm, "You know that wasn't what I was talking about."
Chris simply shrugged, "Really? Because I didn't peg you for someone who'd break up with a guy for something this little."
"This little?" She groaned and pressed a finger to her forehead, "You call demons a little problem?"
She quickly sidestepped that argument as soon as he saw his posture. She'd almost forgotten who she was speaking to.
"It's not just this," She started again. "This is just another omen, and you know it. Only six months together and all these problems, plus this? All the secrecy, the running behind our family's backs and now another demon attack." Bianca turned on her heel, hair whipping angrily around her, shoulders bowed. "Wake up, Halliwell."
Chris leaned on the stage heavily, not sure what to say. He couldn't say he hadn't been expecting this. As much as he insisted that demons were a minor inconvenience, this attack had whole other connotations. This was the wakeup call, the attack set to remind them that them simply being together was more dangerous then anything either of them had done so far.
At first they'd tried to minimize the danger. They thought if they kept their relationship secret, it'd be fine. They didn't want the magical world to get in an uproar over what could just be some fling that'd burn out in a matter of days.
Then the days turned to weeks then to months and both of them were slowly beginning to realize that this wasn't something they could really just drop any more, and yet the complications were still there. It was only a matter of time before someone found out... and they did.
The Phoenixes had signed several treaties agreeing to neutrality, knowing that the world was due to flip moralities sooner or later and they didn't want to be caught in the middle. As long as they didn't throw in with one side or another, they were safe. One of those treaty holders, became aware of their relationship and found it in direct conflict. She was officially fair game and an easy target.
The attack had set their problems in strict focus.
Bianca knew they could deal with this attack, no problem, but it opened up her line of sight for what the future could hold. They'd win this fight, sure, but there'd be others. She'd accepted a long time ago that being a Phoenix brought certain demonic hangups, but she hadn't really anticipated dragging those problems onto someone else... She hadn't imagined that she'd actually care. For once in her life, she wasn't worried about herself. She knew she couldn't deal with it if something happened to Chris, and that scared her more than any demon.
It was better to end it now, before this small problem became a big one and Chris got caught up in it. If she had to hurt him a little to keep him safe overall... so be it.
The Phoenix turned, steeling her nerves and keeping her face carefully neutral.
"We had our laughs," She stated imperiously, "Anything more would be greedy. The Powers have made it pretty damn clear as to how this has got to end."
Chris dipped his head, keeping silent. A deep seated dread had taken root, even as he tried to close himself off for the inevitable end. If she wanted to end it, that was her decision. Sometimes things didn't work out, statistics showed that most relationships didn't last more than two years, maybe it was best to just end it early and get it over with.
He would have, if it weren't for that damn inner voice that was screaming at him to grow a pair. The voice that was saying that, like it or not, he loved her and he was not losing her again, especially to some two bit mid range demons. It was entirely irrational, but he wasn't going to let this end. Damn the consequences.
"The Powers huh?" Chris said flatly, staring up at her abruptly, "You think I care about them? I'm half whitelighter if you haven't noticed. If anyone from my family cared about what they though I wouldn't even exist right now. And the demons? I care about what they think even less."
Chris' voice was deadly cold, "If those are the only reasons you have for breaking up with me, you should really start working on some new ones, cause I'm just not buying it right now."
Bianca hopped down gracefully from the stage and poked her finger sharply in his shoulder, "You're over simplifying this. You--"
"Do you love me?" Chris grabbed her hand before she could jab him again and stared up at her defiantly. Bianca just stared at him dumbstruck for a moment.
"That's not fair." She tried to pull away but Chris caught a better grip on her wrist and rooted her there.
"Answer." He ordered.
Bianca just glared back. "Are you infuriating on purpose, Christopher, or just to me?"
"Depends on the day," He allowed himself a smile.
"You..." Bianca seethed, frustrated that he wasn't understanding, desperate for an argument. "You don't get it. My family hates Halliwells."
"I'm used to it," Chris shrugged, "Answer the question."
"My family would love any excuse to start a feud with you and if this goes up in flames, they'll have that reason. You want to be responsible for that?"
"Doesn't matter. Do you love me?"
"God damnit, yes!" Bianca said sharply, only just resisting the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth.
She hadn't meant to say that. She scrambled for a recovery.
"Damnit, Halliwell. I may love you now, but that might not always be. As soon as that happens you'll have that feud."
Chris grinned, a little punch drunk at the argument. He wanted to say right then and there that they'd never fall out of love. He was a hairsbreadth from saying it too, he was so giddy. He almost had the urge to check and see if Coop was hiding under a scaffold or something before he realized he didn't care either way. Even in the haze, his natural fatalistic instincts kicked in.
It would be bad if they broke up... and so many relationships didn't last there was a real chance they'd end up the same way. Besides, he didn't know how he was going to explain all of this to his family, let alone Bianca's, and he didn't feel like getting an energy ball to the gut any time soon.
"So, we just won't tell them," Chris shook his head, "We keep it secret."
Bianca froze, fingers clasped into fists, fighting a loosing battle in her mind with the little bits of hope that kept taking root. What if... but no... she couldn't keep that kind of secret from her family. They'd find out and the result would be the same.
"Two years." Chris added quickly, letting go of Bianca's wrist and reached up to run a knuckle along her jaw, attempting to keep her attention. She leaned into it, in spite of herself, pinning her lips together. "Two years from now, we'll keep it secret until then. If we can make it that far without crashing and burning then we'll tell both our families. If we break up before then, no harm done."
Bianca narrowed her eyes, staying silent for a long time. It was all for show, her resistance was broken down and she was running on pure stubbornness at this point, mind reeling. Perhaps it wasn't just a bad idea. He could take care of himself, and if it got bad enough, she'd just end it then...
The Phoenix sighed, clearly annoyed, "This would be so much easier if you'd just let me break up with you."
Chris didn't wait a second longer before he leaned in to catch a deep kiss. There was a certain finality to it, like you got when you signed a contract. This was it, their lot in life, for better or worse and all that. Bianca leaned in, catching her hands in his collar and letting the usual sense of unnatural ease overtake her. Like everything was good and the world was how it should be. Like she'd found a long lost friend.
They were so involved that they two of them barely reacted when lightening crackled across P3's walls, trashing the wards and signaling the unfortunate entrance of five demons.
"Where's the Phoenix?!" The largest demon crowed.
The two witches didn't even bother looking at them for a second, faced descending into annoyance. With the flick of a hand, all five of the demons found themselves pinned awkwardly to the nearest wall.
"I'd forgotten about them..." Chris sighed.
"Me too," Bianca glared, reluctantly letting go of Chris' shirt and summoning an athame. "If we're going to keep this secret, we'll have to start with them."
Chris just grinned and shrugged, bowing out of her way, "Ladies first."
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November 16th, 2027. 11:00 am.
"Maybe they were invisible with a blessed athame." Bianca swung around the bathroom doorway, clean shirt in hand. Chris just shook his head, and dipped the now bloodstained rag into the sink.
"In Magic School? Not likely." He shrugged, "Besides, there's no hole in the shirt."
Bianca sagged against the doorway, straightening her jaw in frustration, "What about the Vesper?"
"They're neutral. No reason for it."
"Some kind of curse?"
"Not in Magic School." Chris wrung the cloth out tenderly, trying to ignore the twinge in his arm as he did. Probably wouldn't help the situation any, not with Bianca on the warpath. She'd calmed down a reasonable amount when he'd cleaned up and assured her that he was on the straight path to recovery but she was still far from relaxed.
The Phoenix heaved a sigh, "What if we use an Intent to Harm spell?"
Chris laughed at that, tugging the shirt out of her hands, "What, and be reminded that most of the underworld would be happy to kill me given the chance? No thanks."
"You're not helping." Bianca frowned and gently caught his injured arm, observing the partially healed injury again before she reached across the counter and snatched a new roll of bandages, wordlessly setting to wrapping it back up. Chris let her, happy to give her something to concentrate on.
He knew that being out of control of the situation bothered her, it was something they had very much in common. The difference was, while he'd learned that at some point you just had to accept the world was crap and you lived on anyway, Bianca wasn't willing to do that. She would much rather bend the world until it fit her own ideals. Problem was sometimes that was impossible... and she just couldn't deal with that.
Chris was beginning to regret coming here first. He'd been so worried about what his family would think if he orbed in soaked in blood, that he hadn't even begun to consider how his girlfriend would feel.
Bianca's gaze flickered up momentarily and her eyebrows pinched together, "Stop that."
He blinked, confused, "What?"
"You're blaming yourself again," She twisted the last bit of cotton around his wrist and fastened it with an expert hand. "I'm a big girl, Halliwell, I can handle my own neurosis. You just worry about your own problems for once. "
Chris choked out a laugh and hooked his good arm around her shoulders, dropping a kiss on her temple. She merely raised an eyebrow at him, still wanting an answer, though he could clearly see that the edge of worry had faded.
"Fine." He shrugged, "I don't see what the big deal is, though. If this person was trying to kill me, they'd have to be a complete idiot to try it at Magic School. It's impossible there."
Bianca scoffed, pulling back slightly, "Even an idiot can have a good day, Chris, and we're going to have to get this taken care of before we meet up with my family."
"Another good reason to not look into it." Chris deadpanned.
"It was your idea in the first place, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah, I remember." Chris sighed and reluctantly loosened his grip on her enough to shrug into his new blood-free shirt, "Not my brightest. I'm good with secrets, just not telling them."
Bianca snickered lightly, "Have I ever told you that you'd make a better Phoenix than a Halliwell?"
"Repeatedly, but I don't think I'd look good in the uniform."
She laughed brightly, popping up on her toes for a quick kiss and exited in a fan of dark hair. Chris settled back, letting himself really relax for the first time that day. He had to admit, injury or no, he felt the best he had in days. That floating feeling was completely gone and any dread that had lingered from earlier was just a passing thought. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to take a page from Bianca's book. He was tired of laying in front of the steamroller. It was far past time to take this whole curse thing and get to the bottom of it.
He got two steps into the living room by the time the metaphorical steamroller decided to make its entrance. Chris halted, momentarily dazed. It was like the world had gone bright and dark at the very same time. The disconnected feeling was back, full force... and so was a hell of a lot of pain, so much that it took him a minute to really figure out where it was coming from.
Bianca stepped back into the room just as he found it, hand covering the newfound hole in his stomach like his life depended on it. As the world grayed and his legs gave up on him, Chris realized that was a particularly apt statement.
And then the world ceased to exist.
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Shorter chapter, but it was something I had to get out of the way before the whole shebang really starts. If you haven't caught on by now, this whole fic is in the space of one day, so it's pretty much going to be pedal to the metal from here on in.
Also...please, please, please review. I have a horrible case of the woe-me's coming on. I'm an artist, I have zero confidence in my writing skills, so I get all angsty every once in a while and get the urge to delete all my fics. _ It's not a threat, promise, more of a plea, really…. reviews help. Lots.