CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A few moments later, Prue walked in. She smiled to see Chris. "You okay?" she asked, concerned, since he still looked embarrassed and scared.

"Oh, Leo caught Chris with a girl," I explained.

"Not just a girl," Paige added. "A Valkyrie."

Prue's face fell. "Oh." Oh, no! Prue had the hots for our nephew! Not that I blamed her, since I did, too, when he first arrived, but now that I knew who he was, all I could think was EWWWWW!

But there were more important things to worry about. I turned to that nephew. "Don't worry," I told him. "I'll talk to Leo for you," and I left to go up to the attic, where I could try to call for him.

As I did, I heard Paige say, "Oh, no, I'm late! I have to go to work right now," and soon I heard the door slam.

"You're dating a Valkyrie?" Prue asked.

Curious to see what Chris would reply, I returned to my once-favorite snooping spot at the stair landing.

He was shaking his head. "Actually, no, she isn't my girlfriend."

"Then why were you--" Prue started to ask, and I wanted to know, too..

But Chris cut her off. "Long story. Look, Prue, this is really embarrassing, and I really don't to talk about it. Leo is probably going to send me away after this."

"Nah, not likely. He'll forgive you. Leo doesn't stay mad for long."

"Oh, yeah," he muttered. "He does with me."

She was obviously thinking about what Leo saw, probably wishing that she was the girl Leo had caught him with (EWWW!) because she smiled, saying, "Yeah, I can see how it would've been very embarrassing, but it will pass."

"No, it won't," he insisted. "Leo will never forgive me."

She shrugged. "So what, you got caught with a girl that you weren't supposed to be with. Who cares? No big deal!"

"How would you know? I'm sure you never got caught with someone you shouldn't have been with." he grumbled.

I grinned. Oh, yeah, she has, I thought, thinking about Prue wearing black boxer shorts while I was holding up a pair of her panties. I was sure she'd never admit to it, but maybe being dead does something to you, because to my surprise, she replied. "No, actually I have. Bane, he was a criminal. He kidnapped me and..."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Oh, please don't tell me you were raped! That's totally different than this!"

"Hell, no!" she exclaimed. "I wanted him and he wanted me." Yeah, I thought, and I couldn't blame her--he was yummy!

"But I thought you said he kidnapped you?" Chris exclaimed, confused.

"Yeah, he did, but he asked for my help then eventually he simply let me go when he realized I would not help him. But a demon attacked and he ended up saving me, so I ended up staying, and one thing led to another, and, well, you can figure out the rest."

"But I thought you said you got caught!" Chris wanted to know more, interested despite himself.

She laughed. "Yeah, Piper and Phoebe walked in on us. I was dressed, but Bane wasn't. I know just how embarrassed you must be--I'll never forget how I felt when Phoebe found my panties on the floor!" and Chris laughed despite himself.

"Yeah, that must've been awful embarrassing," he admitted.

"Yeah, it was, but everybody got over it quickly enough, even if they kept teasing me about it and Leo will be over your experience too!" she insisted. "He might tease you, but that's it."

Chris cringed at the mention of Leo. "I doubt it. He caught us in the act and I really should not have been with her."

"Well, she must have been awful embarrassed too," Prue put in, and I knew she was thinking about how embarrassed Bane was.

Chris laughed. "Oh, heck no, she's a Valkyrie."

"Valkyries don't get embarrassed?" she asked surprised, and so was I.

"Yeah, Valkyries are always in control of their emotions," he enthusiastically explained. "They are always serving the greater good, always in charge, very powerful." Then he added, "They live on a beautiful tropical island."

Prue smiled. "Wow, sounds good to be Valkyrie" and I thought so, too, something I never thought when we were Valkyries. Of course, at the time, I was a lot more interested in rescuing Leo and later Piper than I was about the perks.

He smiled at her as he continued. "They are demi-goddesses. They don't age. They don't get sick. They don't die of natural causes. They have a very noble purpose."

"Purpose, which is?" she asked, and I wanted to know, too.

"To prepare for the final battle between good and evil."

"So Valkyries are good, right?" she asked.

"Very good," he nodded with a smile.

"So, I still don't get it. What's the big deal of you being caught with one?" Prue wanted to know. "It's not like you were caught with a demon or something," and she actually got him to smile. ""Feel better?"

He shrugged. "A little."

"Chris, I wanted to ask you a favor."

"What is it?"

"Orb me far away from here. Leo has confirmed that I will die again soon. I don't want to make Phoebe and Piper have to go through my death again." Oh, Prue! And tears began to blur my eyes.

He firmly shook his head. "I have no intention of letting you die."

"You can't stop Death," she insisted. "I know. I tried once and it didn't work. I had to accept that once Death stakes a claim, there's nothing you can do about it. Now you have to accept that, too."