"You sure she wasn't a darklighter?" Leo asked, his voice echoing from the attic and into the hallway, reaching CJ's ears as she approached.

"I'm sure," Piper sighed.

"The mark was a Phoenix." CJ chimed, hesitantly standing in the doorway, fiddling with her hoodie sleeves as all attention moved toward her; she knew it'd be better to keep a safe distance between herself and Chris, fearful that the man would try something stupid and get himself killed. "It's a birthmark," the witch began, looking to the sisters, "it's the mark of the Phoenix witch family." She looked to Leo, who widened his eyes slightly, "They're a family of witch assassins, and they're pretty powerful. I don't know what they'd want with a whitelighter."

Chris shook his head, "She's gone. Piper blew her away, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that someone tried to kill you, Chris." Phoebe spoke, before the brunette shrugged innocently.

"Look at me. Not a scratch." He then turned his gaze to the witch in the doorway, "What I think is the big deal, here, is the fact that no one told me Carina's a demon-witch hybrid." A small piece of his heart sunk at the sadness in her eyes, but he quickly silenced it when she'd turned her gaze back toward her bunny slippers. "Why haven't you guys vanquished her?"

Paige scoffed, "It's complicated."

The blond whitelighter in the room knitted his brows together, "CJ's younger brother was Cole, also known as Belthazor, and Phoebe's ex-husband. She was raised by her dad, who was a witch, and Cole kidnapped her and threw her into the deep end of the Underworld. When he was vanquished, we all decided to give her a chance that she'd never gotten."

Chris looked at the woman with wide eyes, "Wasn't he the—"

"I'll be in my room."

...

Chris buttoned up his shirt; there was a large gash in the center of his chest, and he looked like he was about to be sick. He'd pulled a ring from his pocket, and it looked as if he were about to cry.

"I knew you were lying to them."

He jumped, spinning around and facing the black haired witch. He didn't know how to feel about her presence, anymore; "You'd know all about lying, huh?"

"I didn't lie to you, Chris." She sighed, and he'd noticed the mascara stains that resided on her cheeks, "The topic never came up, you never asked, and we all thought you'd try to kill me if you found out. Now," her eyes flickered to the ring in his fist, "no more lies. Who is she?"

The shaggy haired brunette looked to the ring, placing it back into his pocket. His eyes refused to meet hers, "In a way, I didn't lie about not knowing her." He admitted, nodding his head slightly as he looked at the witch; she was wearing a baggy hoodie, one that ended at her knees, bunny slippers, and her hair had been thrown up into a messy bun. She hadn't washed her face, yet, and that's what he'd assumed she originally came into the bathroom to do. "Her name's Bianca. She's my fiancé, but. . . she wasn't the same as she was when I left to come here."

"Fiancé?" The woman echoed, her eyes wide, and her throat dry as the word echoed through her skull. "Wow, thanks for flirting with me while you were engaged. . ." She muttered, before taking a deep breath, "Look, I'm gonna tell you something, and I'm only going to say it once."

"What? The fact that you're a demon?" He spat, "I've been here for a year, and you never thought to tell me?!"

"First off, only half!" She exclaimed, snapping her head upward to face him. "Secondly, can you fucking blame me, Chris? You've been on a demon binge ever since you got here! We all thought you would've tried to kill me if you knew!" She shouted, waving her arms for dramatic effect.

"You're lucky I haven't tried to!"

"What's stopping you?!" She screamed, causing the man to freeze; he didn't know what was stopping him from killing her. He didn't know if it was because he'd witnessed the good in her, or because of the way her eyes sparkled with happiness when they'd launch insults back and forth. The charcoal haired witch took another deep breath, "I'm leaving San Francisco."

Chris knitted his eyebrows together, leaning against the bathroom counter. "Where the hell are you going?"

"I can't tell you." She admitted, her posture straight and her voice feigning confidence as she stared at the brunette. "I just thought that I'd tell you, since the others are gone."

"Wait — you're leaving tonight?"

"Yeah," she nodded, sending him a tight-lipped smile. "Literally after this conversation ends."

"You can't just—"

"I already am." CJ sighed, allowing her guard to drop slightly, "Take care of them — and yourself, Chris. Bye."

Just as he went to protest, the black haired witch flamed from the manor; he widened his eyes, rushing to her room, only to find it completely empty. How had Leo not noticed her packing?

The brunette entered the basement, slowly turning as he observed how abandoned it appeared; he could practically hear her yelling at him for orbing in while she was changing, her laughing when she'd sprayed him in the eye with perfume, and her singing the demon baby to sleep only a month beforehand.

His heart clenched, realizing that she was actually gone.

...

She collapsed on the riverbank, twenty feet from the cottage; she was in shock, she couldn't believe she'd just left the Halliwells like that, she'd just left Chris like that. Her heart was racing, but she'd refused to break down in that spot; the charcoal haired witch took a deep breath, standing to her feet, and turning to face the small cottage that her wood nymph friends allowed her to own.

Shakily, the woman ran up to the door, opening it with urgency. A little boy was seated in front of the fireplace, a book in his hands; his hair was as dark as ink, skin as pale as snow, but his eyes were a haunting shade of amber brown. His irises were glowing in the firelight, and he looked up at the woman with a smile.

"Hey, Noah." She spoke, crouching down in the doorway.

The boy ran toward her, a wide smile on his lips. "Mama!"