Chapter 2

Chris never realised how much he missed his family until he came home after a long period being away. Their rambunctiousness and downright craziness always filled him with a feeling of being loved and being truly at home. This didn't mean though that they couldn't be absolutely infuriating to him especially when they were all together. And so it was that Chris found himself escaping the house as soon as possible.

Throughout the dinner his older brother had said nothing but "witty" comments relating to wood nymphs. It seemed his once angelic father had wasted no time in informing Wyatt of the mornings' excitements. To be honest though Willow the wood nymph he had met last night hadn't crossed his mind since the elders had called. The only thing he could seem to think about was his new charge.

If he had been able to concentrate that night he may have noticed how strangely his Aunt was acting after her needling before dinner. She had been shooting her middle nephew peculiar glances throughout the meal and considering how she usually was in the middle of every conversation, had hardly spoken a word. Unfortunately Chris hadn't noticed and remained blissfully ignorant to the fact that his Aunt recognised his charge Bianca's name.

Since she had been the only thing to fill his head since he first laid eyes upon her it was no surprise that he found himself once again orbing to her location in order to spy on her. It's what he had been doing most of the afternoon anyway. After the Elders had given him the entire spiel about danger and a difficult task he would have to overcome in the future – nothing out of the ordinary with the elders; he had been given his charge. He was told that she was a Phoenix, a covenant of witches neither good nor bad who had been selling their skills as assassins for almost as long as the Warren line had existed. This particular Phoenix was at a crossroads. It was his job to guide her so she would make the decision to become good. It was supposedly her destiny according to upper management, but that destiny could easily change. Only pain and destruction lay down the path of evil if that is what she chose.

He spent his afternoon watching her as she went to her classes. It seemed as well as being a trained assassin in one of the most dangerous covenant of witches in existence she was also studying Law at UCLA. He hadn't learnt much from the afternoon other than the fact that studying Law looked about as fun getting fleas off a cat and the fact Bianca was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Tonight he was sure to learn a bit more about his charge as usually the duty bound witches came out at night. He knew this well, spending most of his own nights doing his witch duty.

He could sense that Bianca was in the Underworld about the time his mother brought out dessert which gave him just the excuse he needed to run away from his brothers ribbing. With a quick excuse that his charge was calling – this was always a valid reason to leave any occasion in their family and a kiss to his mother cheek for a wonderful dinner Chris was off to the Underworld.

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Unsurprisingly Chris found himself in a dank, dark cave when his glittering orbs finally came together. Out of the corner of his eye Chris caught movement so quickly hid behind a column where a stalactite and stalagmite had met. Before long he could make out an argument approaching his location. Neither voice could belong to his charge as they were both husky, snarls clearly belonging to demons. And ugly demons at that, Chris found when he peaked behind the column to catch a glimpse. They were almost human looking except for their exceptionally large pointed noses and ears. They also seemed to glisten in the dull light, due to what seemed to be a layer of ooze which covered their forms. Another unpleasant thing Chris discovered about the demons was that they smelt atrocious, worse than Wyatt's socks after he wore them for an entire week during cadet training. Only breathing through his mouth kept him from throwing up the delicious dinner his mother had cooked.

"...be fine, like the little chicky could know where we are making the exchange."

"Well I've heard stories, you see. Stories that would make your toes curl and your ooze ooze. You see, they say this clan doesn't just get the job done... they make examples you see." The smaller demon on the right seemed to be very twitchy and Chris could see he was continuously wringing his hands together in trepidation.

They were definitely afraid someone was after them and considering he had followed Bianca to this location, Chris made the logical assumption that they were talking about her. The only question was why she still wasn't showing herself. Chris guessed it had something to do with this exchange. The exchange sounded quite interesting actually. He wondered if Bianca was waiting for the other demon or the object of interest in the exchange to show before she carried out her mission.

"Let me see the amulet again? You're always the one who gets to hold it. You see I think it's my turn now."

"You'd lose it like you lose everything. I am not trusting you with something this important."

'Wow' Chris thought these were two really lowly demons. Another fight had broken out between the pair and they seemed to be slapping at each other as the larger held an amulet above his head out of the twitchy ones reach. It was embarrassing.

They were stopped suddenly though as an invisible force threw them against the roof of the cave. They fell to the ground in a pile of limbs and a loud thud. Still on the ground they seemed to be struggling to un-stick themselves from each other. Their oozy flesh was quite sticky, making the task difficult.

The clearly upper level demon that had appeared grew tired of their struggle and flicked his hand magically throwing the two demons into separate walls. It was an effective method in un-sticking the demons even if it looked like it hurt. Not wanting to be thrown again the pair scrambled to their feet before bowing their heads in reverence to the new comer.

The new demon looked much more formidable than the pair in front of him. He was extremely tall but for all other appearances was human. He had immaculately groomed dark brown hair that was in a style not seen since the 1920's and was wearing a completely black suit covered by a large black trench coat. The only things which clearly showed his demon heritage were the deep red eyes and a strange hump on his back covered by the coat. If Chris had to guess judging by the demons great posture the hump wasn't an ordinary hump but instead a pair of wings.

Now that the gang was altogether things were bound to get interesting.

From what Chris could gather from the following conversation. The upper level Demon had the two sticky fellows steal the amulet from another clan. The Demon had promised to give the two thieves powers in exchange, but Chris knew having seen enough of these exchanges that the upper level Demon was much more likely just to vanquish them now that the task had been completed.

Chris was starting to get really antsy about the fact that he couldn't interfere with the exchange. He knew sooner or later Bianca would show herself and it was his job to watch how she worked. It just seemed the amulet was too powerful to fall into the hands of either the winged Demon or the original clan's ownership. Although neither party had specifically said what the amulet did. If it was gathering this much attention it couldn't be good.

"You have the amulet, now let's have those powers."

"You see, we're dying to try them out on this bastard of a Mercury Demon."

At this comment the sharply dressed Demon smiled. "Well you're right about one thing. You'll definitely be dying to try them out." With his bad pun out of the way the Demon threw two fire balls which instantly turned the two oozing big nosed Demons into piles of vanquished ash. Amazingly they were still covered in slime.

Chris allowed himself a well deserved eye roll. Demons were so predictable.

What wasn't predictable though especially for the Demon was when Bianca shimmered into the space directly in front of him and snatched the amulet straight out of his hands, while he chuckled over his supposed victory.

Before he knew what had really happened the Demon found himself on the over side of the cave after having been kicked to the ground minus an amulet.

Bianca just looked at the Demon and smirked arrogantly while the Demon rose to his feet once more with a growl.

"You better think about what you're doing girly. You have no idea who you are dealing with, or how important that little trinket you're holding is to me."

Bianca raised an eyebrow smugly saying, "Oh, I know exactly what I am doing."

Chris could believe it; Bianca was egging the demon on. Although he was sure he could vanquish the demon. He would never attempt it without at least a powerful potion and his brother to back him up. This wasn't the type of demon you made angry when you were all by yourself in the Underworld. But Bianca definitely didn't look like she was intimidated in the slightest. She looked like she was enjoying herself immensely. She also looked hotter than any woman he had ever laid eyes upon. There was a gleam of excitement in her large brown eyes, her hair was left hanging wildly around her face and she was wearing the tightest leather outfit he could imagine. Every single curve was shown to its fullest. Chris was having a very difficult time concentrating on the exchange of insults between the two.

When he had finally gained a modicum of rational thought, he dragged his eyes away from assassin beauty in time to see the Demon shrug of his trench coat in order to unfurl his wings in an aggressive fashion. His wings were massive and looked like those of a bat. They also showed that the Demon wasn't the brightest upper level Demon to ever walk the Underworld. In such a confined space which the cave was, unfurling his wings turned out to be a huge hindrance.

The Demon started throwing fireball after fireball at Bianca but she skilfully dodged and repelled them all, using moves that left Chris awe struck. She was a really good fighter, but then he hadn't expected anything less. Before the Demon knew it Bianca had made it passed his defences pushing her hand straight into his chest like it was butter.

Chris was slightly horrified by this move. It wasn't something you would see a warrior of Good do normally. He obviously had his work cut out for him in bringing Bianca down the right path. The Demon had fallen to his knees screaming in agony as Bianca kept her hand in his chest where it seem a black hole had opened in his flesh.

When he finally stopped screaming and Bianca withdrew her hand Chris was surprised the Demon was still among the land of the living. He did seem utterly defeated now though swaying as he kneeled. Bianca didn't keep him like that for long though and quickly dispensed of him with a slash across his throat and a burst of flames. It was a much more violent vanquish than he usually took part in, but that didn't make him any less enthralled. The woman before him was amazing and deadly.

Bianca stood standing over the pile of ash with the amulet in one hand and athame in the other. She looked like the epiphany of witch assassin. The way she sighed though seemed to suggest that she was not completely fine with her actions and this gave him hope that Bianca was very much redeemable.

He had seen what he had come to see in the Underworld. He now new exactly how dangerous Bianca was. She had dispatched of an upper level Demon with very little effort. First she had allowed the Demon to vanquish it's minions for her and then she had taunted the Demon into unfurling his wings giving her the clear advantage in such a confined space. She had thought out every part of the operation and pulled it off perfectly. Chris truly believed this was a woman who could kill as easily as playing solitaire. But she had never killed an innocent and it seemed she was left feeling uneasy after she killed even this despicable Demon, or perhaps it was just the fact she found it so easy that made her uneasy. Either way Bianca was not evil.

While these thoughts distracted him, Chris never noticed the way Bianca's back stiffened and she once again moved into a defensive position.

"I know you're there. You might as well come out, and tell me why the hell you have been following me all day?"

Chris felt like slapping his head. He didn't because that would assuredly blow his cover, but he thought he had been so careful. He had under estimated Bianca once again.

Moving out from behind the column with his hands up in a non-hostile gesture, Chris was quick to reassure the assassin who looked ready to pounce the minute she saw him. "Look I'm not here to hurt you or vanquish you. I'm on your side."

"Oh so I suppose you want me to just hand you the amulet then?" her hand tightened unconsciously around the trinket, a clear message that he would have to pry it out of her cold dead fingers if he wanted it.

Chris chuckled he didn't even know what the amulet did. "No I can honestly say I don't have much care for the amulet at all. I've been following you because I'm your Whitelighter."

He had planned on telling her tomorrow or maybe the next day but since he had been found out he supposed his plans didn't really matter much. The look on her face when he told her she had a Whitelighter was rather comical he had to admit.

"Wait... You're my WHITELIGHTER? I can't have a Whitelighter I'm a Phoenix. We don't get Whitelighters! They're just for those goodie two shoes witches who can't protect themselves."

'Well that was slightly offensive' Chris thought. Everyone in his family either was a Whitelighter or had a Whitelighter.

"Well I'm sorry but that is what I am. Deal with it."

Bianca sneered, she was not happy with the situation it seemed, "Wow you are kind of bitchy for a Whitelighter. "

Before he could react to her insult, Bianca had suddenly moved into his personal space and pushed him against the wall with her arm constricting his throat. "Look, I don't need a Whitelighter and I really don't want one. So either you leave me alone or I'll make you... your choice."

Chris was a Whitelighter and Bianca was his charge but that didn't mean he was going to stand around being threatened without doing anything. Besides he was a Witchlighter not a full blown Whitelighter. He was no pacifist.

Using his telekinesis Chris pushed Bianca away from him. Not enough to slam her into the wall but enough to push her onto her backside. She looked up at him from the dirt floor an angry glow colouring her cheeks as she glared. It was probably the first time she had fallen on her behind since she was a little witch trainee.

"I am your Whitelighter, and you may not realise it right now but you need me. I've only known you since this afternoon and I can already see that you don't like being made to kill." Chris tried to salvage the situation which was rapidly falling apart around him.

"You don't know anything" Bianca yelled and without further ado pounced into Chris tackling him to the ground.

The only thing between their bodies was her athame poised readily to slice his throat. Chris couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. It was completely inappropriate considering the circumstances and the fact she could slit his throat at any second, but Chris was kind of enjoying himself. She was a feisty one that was for sure. Leveraging his free hand to grab her knife arm and twisting his leg between hers the Witchlighter flipped the pair. Now being on top Chris struggled to restrain the Phoenix.

She growled at him her eyes burning with intense rage, "Let me up NOW, Whitelighter."

It had started the moment he had grabbed the bare skin on Bianca's arm. A pressure had begun to form inside his head. To begin with it wasn't anything, just a niggling at the edge of his mind, but it quickly grew into something that he couldn't ignore.

The pain started when he looked into Bianca's eyes and instead of seeing only the infuriated brown depths that were in front of him, another set overlayed reality. They were soft and were looking at him as if he were something truly wonderful.

His distraction seemed to offer Bianca enough opportunity to get out from underneath him. Before he knew it Chris was reeling back holding his nose in pain from where she had head butted him.

When he looked up at Bianca she was staring down at him with confusion, or at least one of them was. Chris could still see a ghost of another Bianca who looked at him with love and the longer he stared the greater the pain in his head became.

It looked as if the real Bianca was going to say something, she even moved towards his fallen figure as if she were going to offer some help. Instead she said "Goodbye, Whitelighter. Don't follow me again", before shimmering away.

Lying in the dirt of the Underworld in pain Chris couldn't help but wish the girl who had caused that pain would come back. He didn't know what that vision was about or why it caused him so much pain, but if Bianca ever looked at him that way in real life, he knew he would be exquisitely happy.

TBC

AN/ I figure Chris is a bit of a player which is why he was able to so easily forget the wood nymph. That is until he meets Bianca. It's not love at first sight by the way he's just strongly attracted to her because he's a guy and she's wearing a revealing leather cat suit... he may be a little but in love with her at this point. Next up visions and past life fun