Future Consequences by Kalvana--Updated 2/09

[mcharmed21]

The trio of sisters and Leo saw Piper come to her senses, flicking her hands, blowing a part of the wall by Wyatt’s head. “Back off, Wyatt,” she warned. “Get out of this house.”<br>
“No! You!” Wyatt shouted, using both arms to telekinetically toss both of them through the windows over the breakfast table. Again, Chris cushioned his fall and leapt back at his brother through the hole now in the wall.

The two brothers fought, tossing eachother back and forth. Wyatt started to use energy balls, which Chris dodged. Piper managed to crawl back through the opening. “Stop this!” she screamed, only succeeding in distracting Chris, letting him catch an energy ball to the chest, knocking him through the basement door.

Wyatt turned his attention back to his mother, the athema reappearing in his hand as he walked towards her. Again she flicked her hands at him. Wyatt only laughed. “I’m not a demon, mother. Your powers don’t work on me.”<br>
Piper turned, trying to run for the door when Wyatt grabbed her with a telekinetic hand and pulled her back towards him, the knife sliding between her ribs. “No!” Chris screamed, rushing back up the stairs as best he could. He knocked Wyatt out of the way as he slid to the floor beside his mother. The trio of sisters and Leo saw the blood on Chris’s burned and torn shirt, saw the shuttering of his chest as he struggled to breathe.

“Get out of my house!” Wyatt screamed, knocking both of them out of the house again, sealing up the wall behind them.

Chris struggled to crawl over to his mother, cradling her head in his lap as she sputtered blood. “Dad!” Chris screamed, his fear and panic and pain evident to the three sisters who watched him, hating that there was nothing they could do. “Dad!” Chris shrieked again between sobs. Piper began to still and Chris still screamed desperately. They could hear his voice beginning to scratch.

“Chris!” The three sisters saw Phoebe run from the side of the house, moving to stand next to him. “Oh my God! What happened?” she asked, kneeling beside her unmoving sister. She felt for a pulse, finding none. “Piper!” she shouted, not wanting to admit to what she knew: another sister was dead. “What happened?” she growled, pushing Chris to the grass.

“Wyatt,” he whispered darkly. “Wyatt, he—“

Phoebe dragged herself to her feet, stomping to the back door, only to be tossed backwards by a force field. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, she turned back to her nephew, lost as he cradled his mother’s dead body in his arms as he continued to mutter and call for his father with a damaged voice. “We have to get out of here,” Phoebe said. “Can you orb?” she asked, kneeling down so he could reach her.

Dully, he rested his hand on her knee and he took her and his mother’s body in the swirl of white, but quickly, all three tumbled to the ground. He was too weak. That’s when Phoebe noticed the scorch marks on his clothes and chest, the bruises and cuts that covered him.

“Come on,” Phoebe commanded, pulling him to his feet. “We have to get you to a hospital.”

The two started towards the car when Chris pulled away, falling onto the floor without the added support. “Mom,” he said, knowing Phoebe would understand that he wasn’t willing to leave his mother’s body.

“Once I get you in the car, I’ll come back for her.” The trio of sisters and Leo watched as Phoebe led her nephew to the car, packing him in before coming back to drag her sister’s body to join them.

They were engulfed in another flash of white light.




The three sisters found themselves standing in a dark cave. They could hear the faint sounds of laughter and followed it. There were different rooms in the seemingly endless weave of tunnels lit with a mix of torches, gas and electric lamps and magical lights. People rushed about busily. The travelers finally found the source of the laughter.

They stepped into the ‘room,’ seeing Phoebe leaned against the stone wall, a tiny baby in either arm. Chris sat across from her, holding one in his own.

“Only I, who thought I’d never have kids, could manage three at once,” Phoebe laughed.

“Yeah, well, just figure out how we’re going to be able to feed three more mouths and we’ll be set.” Phoebe looked momentarily offended until she looked up, realizing he was kidding and they both broke into laughter again.

“I wish my sister was here to see this,” Phoebe said wistfully, looking down at the sleeping bundles.

“Which one?” Chris asked rhetorically.

Phoebe laughed. “Well, all of them, but especially your mom. She’d have been proud of you.”<br>
“And of you,” Chris countered, not allowing the subject of his mother to linger. It hurt too much.

“Phoebe!” someone shouted. “Clear the way!” The trio of sisters and Leo heard the commotion and then saw the source of it all. The demon Chris had vanquished in their attic came running through, two other people behind her, though whether they were demon or witch, they couldn’t tell. They were carrying a man and rushed him directly into the room where Chris and Phoebe sat.

[mcharmed21]

“No!” Phoebe screeched, settling the two infants into a basket beside her while she scrambled to her feet, only to fall beside the man as they laid him out on the floor. Chris stood, moving to the other side of the room, sitting down out of the way by the basket that held two of his cousins while he held the third.

The trio of sisters and Leo watched as people tried to help the dying man. Doctors and demons and witches, everyone tried, but in the end, they could only make him comfortable. Phoebe let out a wail as she collapsed onto the floor beside him. The babies were crying now too.

“Chris?” a quiet voice asked from the doorway, brushing in even as everyone else had left to give the family its privacy. The trio and Leo saw Bianca, younger, softer, enter, kneeling down next to Chris, who silently watched his aunt as tears washed his face. “I just heard,” she whispered. Between the two of them, they picked up the three babies, cradling as best they could as they curled up and found sleep.

Chris awoke not long after. Bianca was still asleep, one of the triplets curled against her stomach, another in her arms. Chris lifted the third sleepy baby in his arms, resting her in the basket while he went over to the small curtain delineating a bedroom in the single room the family shared. “Aunt Phoebs?” There was no answer. “Aunt Phoebs?”<br>
There was no actual response, but the curtain was pushed aside as Phoebe walked out. She was dressed for battle, a hard leather vest covering her chest, knives strapped to each thigh. She was holding a bag filled with little clinking potions bottles.

“Where are you going?” Chris asked nervously, stepping in her way.

“To kill something.”<br>
“But, Phoebs, you can’t!” he argued.

“Watch me!”<br>
Again he stepped in her way. “You don’t know what or who you’re up against! You can’t just go off angry!”<br>
“He’s killed my sisters! He’s killed my friends! Now, he kills my husband?” Phoebe spat venomously. “No way in hell am I going to let him continue! I’m putting an end to this!”<br>
“Fine,” Chris said, defeated. “Give me a minute and I’ll come with you.”<br>
“No,” Phoebe said flatly, gesturing to the pile of still sleeping babies and Bianca. “Stay with them. Take care of them for me.” She quickly curled up on her toes, giving Chris a peck on the cheek before disappearing out the door.

Chris stepped back into the room, sliding down the wall beside Bianca, lifting the one baby that was now awake into his arms. “She’ll be back, little one,” he whispered. “She’d never leave you.”<br>
The trio of sisters and Leo watched him play with the babies as he made fun of Bianca for sleeping like a rock. They watched him as he paced nervously, snapped at any who dare enter the room with what he deemed frivolous concerns. They watched him grip his hair and allow a few tears to brim the surface of his eyes out of fear and frustration. And then, a messenger silently entered. “Chris?” the man said tentatively.

“What is it?” Chris groaned.

“This was found in the forest. It has your name on it.”<br>
Chris nodded. The three sisters could already see the tears leaving his eyes. “Leave it,” he commanded. He looked back at the babies and Bianca before stepping over to the box that had been delivered. He lifted the card, seeing his name on one side. He flipped it over. “For my little brother,” he muttered in distaste. Slowly he lifted the lid off the box, dropping back away from the sight in horror, gasping for breath, scrambling away to put distance between him and it.

“Chris?” Bianca asked, worry tingeing her voice. She faced him, watching him crawl onto all fours, only to empty his stomach onto the floor. They all watched as Bianca dropped by his side, pulling the weeping young man into her arms, trying to give him any kind of comfort she could while he muttered intangible words and wept.

Leo and the sisters moved to the box, daring to peak inside, see Phoebe’s decapitated head.

Again the world erupted in white light.




They thought they’d end up back at the manor, having seen the deaths of all three of the sisters, but when they reappeared, it was in a park, a shining green park with white columns and flowers all around them.

“We shouldn’t be here,” Chris said, looking much as he did when they knew him, only smiling. He wasn’t actually complaining. The trio and Leo watched as Bianca pulled him towards her, capturing his lips. He pulled her tighter, deepening the kiss before whispering something in her ear that made her blush and look around before kissing him again.

She finally pulled away, grinning at his groan of protest. “There hasn’t been an attack in over a month,” she whispered. “And the girls had never seen grass,” she scoffed.

Chris sighed happily, spinning Bianca around, wrapping her in his arms and resting his chin on her shoulder. “I love you,” they whispered to each other, settling into each other in this peaceful moment. They watched the triplets playing, chasing around a butterfly through the flowers. “Don’t crush the flowers!” Chris called out.

The three little girls turned to face him, sharing a conspiratorial look. “Tickle Chrissy!” they shouted all together, running towards him. He tried to use Bianca as a shield, but she shimmered out of the way and stepped back to watch the three little girls tackle their cousin into submission.

Bianca stepped back, sitting down on a stone bench, watching as her Chris wrestled with the three little girls they’d raised together. She laughed as Chris begged for mercy. That’s when she saw it, the quick flash as orbs appeared. “Chris! Look out!” she cried. But, it was too late. Wyatt was there, one of the little girls swept into his arms before he was fully formed.

Pi and Pay ran to Bianca as Chris scrambled to his feet to face his brother. “Let her go, Wyatt,” Chris said lowly. “Get them out of here!” Chris shouted over his shoulder, demanding that Bianca leave with the two girls.

“Chrissy!” little Prue whined as Wyatt squeezed her tighter.

“Chrissy?” Wyatt laughed. “Not Dad? And here I thought they were yours.” Wyatt breathed deeply, taking in the scent of the girls’ hair. “I smell the blood of a Charmed One.”<br>
“That’s me you’re sniffing,” Chris spat sarcastically.

“No,” Wyatt said condescendingly. “I smell the blood of Phoebe Halliwell in this one. Who knew my aunt would eventually get around to having children?”<br>
“What are you doing here?” Chris spat.

“I was told the Charmed Ones were playing in the park. I had to prove them wrong, but what should I find? A new generation of them being watched over by my pathetic little brother.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

Chris growled as he raised a hand in front of him, beginning to squeeze. Wyatt let out a surprised gasp before laughing, squeezing the girl in his arms tighter and tighter until she squealed in pain. Chris released his hold on Wyatt. “That’s what I thought,” Wyatt laughed.

“Let her go,” Chris growled.

“Or what? You can’t kill me.”<br>
“Let her go, please?” Chris asked quietly, tears beginning to reach the corners of his eyes. He kept his eyes locked with Prue’s fear filled brown eyes.

“Please?” Wyatt laughed.

Bianca shimmered in behind Wyatt, reaching through his back as she began to drain him. “Hurry!” she screamed.

Chris grabbed Prue from him, just as Wyatt managed to throw Bianca, sending her tumbling into them both before crashing headfirst into the stone bench. Chris flung Wyatt backwards before he could reach Prue, who was curled on the ground, cradling a broken arm.

Wyatt formed an energy ball in his hand, taking aim at the defenseless girl. She flung her uninjured hand at him and Wyatt paused to laugh. “Defenseless as Mom, is she?” he asked, letting the energy ball fly.

Chris stepped in the way of it, catching the burst of power in the gut. He faltered, dropping to his knees, spitting blood. “Leave us alone,” he managed, falling forward to rest on all fours, Prue on the ground behind him. Chris struggled to his feet, looking as though a wind could knock him down. “Prue, go wake up Bianca,” he said quietly.

“But—“

“Don’t argue!” he shouted, at that moment, running forward, tackling Wyatt to the ground. Wyatt laughed, not bothering even to struggle as Chris pinned him. Chris raised his hands to either side of his brother’s head, his own eyes closing as he concentrated.

The trio of sisters and Leo saw Wyatt’s careless laughter cease, saw the frown lines marring his features, saw the emotion return to him as he began to struggle against his brother. “You’re not a demon, Wyatt,” Chris growled. “You feel pain.” They realized what Chris was doing, projecting his emotions into his brother, projecting the emotions of the entire city.

Wyatt finally screamed, pushing Chris away roughly. “That’s certainly new, little brother. Powers grown since last we met?” Chris lay prone on the grass when Wyatt got to his feet, smiling down at him. Chris was choking, his throat burning as he gasped for breath. Wyatt only smiled as he squeezed harder.

“Let him alone!” Prue shouted from her place beside Bianca, trying fruitlessly to wake her.

“And what are you going to do?” he mocked. She only stomped her foot angrily and Wyatt felt the ground beneath him shake. “Perhaps not as defenseless as Mom.”<br>
Little Prue concentrated, her face twisting with focus. The ground beneath Wyatt split, forcing him to orb out momentarily before he fell. Wyatt let lose an energy ball, aimed at the child. Again Chris managed to put himself in the way.

“He can’t take much more,” Piper breathed, watching her sons battle, burying her head in the back of Phoebe’s shoulder, hiding her eyes from it.

Chris couldn’t even stand, bleeding from burns and wounds in his chest and abdomen, blood smearing his face, a handprint on his throat. “Stop this Wyatt, please?” he begged again.

“There can not be another set of Charmed Ones,” Wyatt said. “I will not allow it.”<br>
The ground began to shake again and again Wyatt formed an energy ball. “Please,” Chris begged again, but was too weak to do anything as he watched the ball fly at his cousin, hitting her in the chest, knocking her backwards. “No!” Chris cried, his voice cracking in sobs. “You’ve already taken so much please,” he begged, struggling again to get up. “Please leave me my girls.”<br>
Wyatt squatted down beside his brother, looking at the little girl crying weakly not ten feet away. “Don’t worry little brother. I’m only going to take one for now.” He threw another energy ball, this one killing little Prue. Chris grabbed for him, not knowing what he could do, would do, but needing to do something.

Wyatt stood and took a step away, looking down at Chris, almost with pity on his face. He reached out his hand, much as Chris had done in the attic, slowly curling his fingers into a fist. “That’s your heart, little brother. Yes, it’s hurting now,” he said, watching his brother gasp and struggle against an unseen force. “Don’t make me break it,” he finished before orbing out.

The trio of sisters and Leo watched for a moment, Prue dead in the grass, Bianca lying unconscious and bleeding from a gaping wound on her head on the bench and Chris lying struggling just to breath above the scarred surface of the earth.

There was another flash of brilliant white light and the sisters found themselves back in the manor dining room, charred from the earlier attack. Chris slumped against the wall, steadying himself. “There you go, my life in a nut shell.”<br>
“Chris,” Piper started, but not knowing how to finish.

Chris cleared his throat. “I’ll be in the attic.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

Chris was staring at the entry on the Warren sisters and the demons two of them had become when Leo found him. Leo just watched him for a moment, studying his intent gaze. The memories had answered so much, given them so much insight into why Chris was the way he was, why he was focused and angry and practiced and passionate, why he was short tempered when it came to the sister’s seemingly endless supply of frivolity in their lives. He’d never had that. He hadn’t had a moment to let go since he was twelve. And any time he had, the repercussions were haunting.

Chris finally sighed, closing his eyes away from the book but not looking up. He could feel his father’s question. “I don’t hate you. And your absence from my memories is not because you’re dead or you abandoned me, not really anyway.”<br>
“Then why aren’t I there?” Leo asked.

“Because after Wyatt’s minions attacked the Heavens, the same day they took over the magic school, they were hunting whitelighters. Anyone with healing powers was top priority for Wyatt. You and the few other surviving Elders took a defensive stance, a-- Basically you retreated to figure out a way to fight him. It was a risk to come to earth.”<br>
“But to heal Piper? Why—“

Chris laughed, shaking the tears from his eyes. “I don’t know, really. I sometimes think it was because you wanted her there, with you. That it had become too much.”<br>
“I would never—“

“Who knows!” Chris snapped impatiently. “The point is you weren’t there. You had your own battles. I had mine. We were both focused on that and while we had a common enemy, we lived in different worlds. Any relationship needs work, including father and son and quite frankly all of our energy was focused on something else.” Chris took a deep, calming breath. “Is there anything else? I have to get back to the girls. Pay Day is starting to freak.”<br>
“Pay Day?” Leo asked.

“Phoebe named her daughters after her sisters. Prudence, Piper and Paige. Most people call them Prue, Pi and Pay. I sometimes call the two youngest Sweetie Pi and Pay Day,” Chris explained, a smile breaking onto his face.

“And what did you call Prue?” Leo asked, watching as that smile faded, replaced with pain.

Chris choked on the words as tears formed. “Prune Juice,” he said with a sad laugh. “She hated it, said her sisters got cool nicknames and she was Prune Juice. I told her it was perfect, an acquired taste, but one that was useful and good for you and that many people loved.”<br>
“You loved her.”<br>
“Oh, god, I love her,” Chris let out, sniffling back the tears. “I miss her so much. She was my daughter!” he cried out, the pain and pure anguish evident as his voice cracked. He wiped his hands through his hair. “She was my daughter and I couldn’t protect her. I wasn’t enough to protect her.”<br>
“Chris—“

“I could handle losing my aunts and my mother. I could handle that. It hurt, and I thought I might never catch my balance after each of their deaths. And I felt guilty I could have done more. But in my head, I knew that they were supposed to be taking care of me. But Prue? I—“ He couldn’t manage any more words as his tears got the best of him. He dropped to the floor, sobbing as he did. “She was my little girl, Dad,” Chris cried. “They were my little girls and I lost them.”<br>
Leo had almost jumped out of his skin when Chris called him ‘Dad,’ but the pain the younger man was feeling quickly superceded it. And for some reason, Leo knew Chris was wasn’t only talking about little Prue. Leo dropped onto the floor, holding his son in his arms, letting him cry.



“He’s hurting, so much. There’s so much anger, so much guilt,” Phoebe said quietly from her place at the scarred table. The three sisters had a lot to think about as they ran Chris’s memories through their head, looking at their own futures, their own deaths.

“How—“ Paige started.

“He’s not shielding me, at the moment. And he might be projecting, though I don’t think it’s intentional,” Phoebe explained.

“I have seen my sons’ future,” Piper said softly, flatly without emotion. “And I will not allow it to happen. I will not let Chris be born on the street with glass in his gut. I will not allow Wyatt to turn into a murderer. I will not allow them to become such bitter enemies that killing eachother is ever an option. I will not allow any of this.”<br>
“So—“ Paige started, sounding unsure of what was going to come out of her lips.

“So, we play by Chris’s rules,” Piper explained. “We focus on the task at hand. We figure out a way to vanquish our great, great aunts. We fight for that goal until it is over, no distractions.”<br>
“No distractions,” Phoebe seconded.

“No distractions,” Paige agreed.

“Wait!” Piper said, as if she’d just remembered something, blushing at the memory. “Maybe one. If this takes longer than about a week and a half, I have to take a break to go have lots of sex with Leo.” Her sisters looked at her as if she’d grown a third eye. “I promised Chris that he’d be conceived,” she explained. Her sisters at least found the humor and giggled. “Now to work.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

Chris leaned back, settling against the side of the worn couch as Leo settled more comfortably on the floor beside him. Chris laughed at his tears as he pushed them away. "You were there," he admitted.

"Where?"

"At the park, that day. You're the reason I didn't die there, why Bianca didn't."

"I don't understand," Leo said, shaking his head. "If I was there, why wasn't I in your memory?"

"You weren't there until after Wyatt left. You're the one that pulled us out of there when Wyatt had left us for dead."

"But Tasha said Bianca had kept you practically in a coma for a month after that attack. If I had been there, why wouldn't I have healed you?"

"I told you before that you can't heal injuries caused by blood. Besides," Chris shrugged. "Even if you could we wouldn't have let you."

"Why?"

"Wyatt can sense when healing is used. He'd have tracked you and killed you."

Leo nodded, building his knowledge of the future. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

"You shouldn't have even done what you did do," Chris said sadly, shaking his head again as he pulled his knees to his chin. "It was too dangerous and you lost an Elder because of it." Chris sensed his father's confusion. "You'd been out tracking potential Elders and any other magical creature, trying to form an army against Wyatt."

"And you?"

"Collecting refuges of San Francisco and causing enough distractions to let you get your work done. We fought the same enemy from different angles."

"I'm sorry we couldn't be side by side,” Leo whispered. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be fighting with each other.”<br>
Chris nodded, accepted the feelings of this Leo as the one he knew from the future, from the one that he knew only as an ally and not as a father. “I wish I knew you more as a father. You’re a good father.”<br>
“So are you,” Leo said, seeing the pain of losing Prue stabbing Chris’s heart again. “No matter what, you have to know that.”<br>
“Not good enough,” Chris whispered more to himself than anyone else. “Not a good enough father to save her. Not a good enough son to save Mom. Not a good enough witch to stop Wyatt.” Chris jerked into awareness as more worried emotions hit him. He glanced up at his mother and aunts as they silently watched the scene. He didn’t know how long they’d been there, nor did he care. He stood up slowly, gifting them all with a small smile as he wiped away the remains of his tears.

“We’re going to be Warren Witch Demon hunting until further notice,” Piper announced, loving her son’s reaction of excitement and resolve. It would give him something to focus on, and that’s all he needed to know for now.

“I’d stay and help, but Pay is starting to freak out a bit. I should go check in with them.”<br>
“I—“ Phoebe started, but she cut herself off and looked to the floor, deciding to let it rest.

Chris bit his lip as he studied her. “I can understand your need to meet them, but I can’t let you tell them who you are. I can’t deal with that whole emotional upheaval.”<br>
“I understand,” Phoebe said, still not looking up.

“So pick a fake name,” Chris said. He tried not to look at the bright smile that appeared on her face.

“Sara?” Phoebe asked, seeing if it would make the grade. Chris said nothing, only reached forward, taking her hand in his own and they orbed out together.

“So what were you two talking about?” Piper asked. Paige had already disappeared into the Book of Shadows.

Leo nodded. “We saw you three die. I was curious as to my own future.”<br>
“And what are you up to in the future?”<br>

[mcharmed21]

“Fighting the good fight,” Leo shrugged, not knowing how to explain his role.

“Chrissy!” the identical girls screamed happily as they tackled him. Tasha hung back, unsure of how to proceed with Phoebe’s presence here. “Where were you?” Pay demanded.

Chris smiled, settling on the ground, one girl sitting on his leg while the other stood beside him glaring at Phoebe. “I was out working, you know that,” Chris teased, tickling the girl on his leg. “I want you to meet someone,” Chris said, gesturing to Phoebe. “This is my friend Sara.”<br>
“How can she be a friend if she was protecting the evil witch trying to kill you?” Pi asked seriously, still glaring at the woman who had stabbed Chris earlier.

“I know you won’t believe me, but there is no evil witch trying to kill me. Not here, anyway. Sara is a good witch, like us,” Chris tried to argue.

Pay stood from Chris’s leg and stepped in front of Phoebe. “I’m Paige Halliwell, but everyone calls me Pay. Well, except Chrissy. He calls me Pay Day ‘cause he’s weird.” She reached up and shook Phoebe’s hand.

Chris watched as Phoebe gasped at the contact and stumbled back a step. He knew she’d had a premonition, but when he looked at her questioningly, she shook her head. “I agreed, he’s weird,” Phoebe laughed, sticking her tongue out at Chris as she did.

“Take it back!” Pi demanded. “Chrissy is not weird!”<br>
“Pi, calm down,” Chris asked of her, laying a hand on her shoulder. “She was just kidding.”<br>
“No she wasn’t!” Pi argued, stomping her foot.

“That’s my sister Piper,” Pay said to Phoebe. “Most people call her Pi, though. She’s grumpy.”<br>
“I am not!” Pi screamed. “She killed Chrissy!” She pointed an accusing finger at Phoebe. “I saw her stab him!” Pay looked unsure and looked to Chris for answers. “Tell her, Chrissy!”<br>
“She didn’t mean to stab me,” Chris said weakly. “She was defending our friend and I got in the way. But it was healed and everything is fine now.” Chris could feel Phoebe’s awe at just seeing her daughters. He could feel her hurt at Pi’s rejection of her, could feel her sadness. “Sara is a good witch and a good woman and a good friend of mine and I want you to be nice to her,” he said to both girls.

Pi stepped over and grudgingly shook Phoebe’s hand and muttered, “It’s nice to meet you.”<br>
“What kind of friend?” Pay asked of Chris.

Chris looked confused for a moment and Phoebe could sense it. She felt the feeling of betrayal coming from the little girl on behalf of someone else. And then the intense pain from Chris as he realized the little girl’s thoughts.

“Not that kind of friend,” Phoebe assured the girls.

“Where’s B?” Pay asked curiously. Chris smiled weakly up at the little girls who had both moved to stand in front of him waiting impatiently for an answer, even as tears began to burn his eyes. “She said she was coming to see you, to bring you back,” Pay prodded further.

“We need to talk,” Chris said softly, easing the two girls onto the ground with him, wrapping them in his arms. “Bianca-- She’s gone,” was all Chris could get out before his voice cracked and tears spilled.

Phoebe could feel her own tears sting her eyes as she felt the pain in both of the little girls. Chris, again, had become a blank space to her, having shielded himself from her reading.

[mcharmed21]

Both of the girls looked resolved to his words, no screams of protests, no anger. They’d accepted it quickly without argument and that fact saddened Phoebe even more. “How?” Pi asked.

Chris swallowed. He so wanted to just say ‘demon’ and leave it at that, but he knew the girls deserved the truth. “She came here to get me. And she took my powers.”<br>
“Why?” Pay asked.

“Because she knew I would fight her because I know I have to be here. So she took my powers and she took me back to see the Lord. He’d told her that if she brought me back, he’d let me live. But if she failed, he’d send more assassins to make sure I died. But, when we arrived, he tried to kill me. Bianca attacked him and she was killed, but she managed to distract him long enough that I escaped and I’m here now, safe.”<br>
“Do you have your powers?” Pi asked.

“Yes,” Chris said with a nod. “The three good witches that are helping me here, including Sara, wrote a spell to get them back for me.”<br>
“But the Lord is still sending assassins?” Pay pointed out.

Chris nodded. “Yes, but not like we thought,” he said. “It’s very complicated and not something you need to worry about.” Chris smiled, deciding it best to change the subject. “I did see you attack today, to defend me, which makes me proud even though it was unnecessary. I can see you’ve been training.”<br>
“Bianca’s been teaching us!” Pi exclaimed excitedly, jumping up.

“She’s been showing us how to work as a team,” Pay added.

“I saw that windwall. It was impressive,” Chris said. He too dragged himself to his feet. “Why don’t you show Sara everything you can do while I talk to Tasha?”<br>
“Okay,” Pay said, grabbing both Pi’s hand and Phoebe’s, dragging them further out into the open.



“How are they?” Chris asked, watching his girls showing off for their mother without even realizing it.

“They’ve missed you. I don’t know how long it’s been here, but it’s been six months back home.”<br>
“About the same here,” Chris shrugged. “They’ve been training?”<br>
“Bianca went nuts about it after you left. I don’t know what she thought would happen when she sent you to the past, but obviously not what she expected. I think she was expecting an instant fix. So she stepped up their training, had demons working with them as well as herself. She wanted them prepared.” Tasha let out a long breath, realizing Chris didn’t know what had happened over the last six months at home. “The Lord attacked the Caverns. We still don’t know how he found them, but he did and he attacked. There were a lot of casualties, but most of us were captured, put in his dungeons.”<br>
She laughed at herself. “What’s that word? My mom used to say it all the time when I was little. ‘I need a va—‘ something she’d say.”<br>
“Vacation.”<br>
“That’s it. It was like a vacation. Similar housing to the Cavern. Not a lot of food, but a regular supply of it. No attacks. I kind of liked it there. Then he took Bianca.” Chris’s face tightened as she said that. “I don’t know what he did to her. She wouldn’t talk about it, but it wasn’t good. She’d sleep with us in the dungeons, but everyday his guards would drag her away.

“The one day, she came in just smiling and she said she was going to go get you and bring you back and everything was going to be all right. That’s the last I saw of her.”<br>
“He betrayed her. She should have known it, but she wanted so much for it all to be over that she let herself believe in him.” Chris smiled sadly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, girlie-girl.”<br>
“What do you mean? You’re going to win,” she laughed, completely sure of his abilities and his resolve.

“I mean after. I’m going to go back and helped the Charmed Ones stop this whole mess. But, when it’s over, I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t know those of us who are in this time will disappear back to the new timeline where we’re supposed to be. I don’t know if we’ll remember. I don’t know.”<br>
“Doesn’t matter what happens to us, just what happens to everyone else.” Chris nodded his agreement and then felt a familiar tug in his chest. He was being called.

“Sara!” Chris shouted, catching Phoebe’s attention. “We have to get going!”<br>

[mcharmed21]

“But—“ she argued. “I want to spend more time here.”<br>
“We’ll come back, but I’m being called.” He stepped over and knelt in front of the two identical girls. “I have to go again,” he told them.

“How long?” Pi asked, even as Pay wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I don’t know,” Chris admitted honestly.

“Why can’t we go with you?” Pay whined.

Chris laughed at what was an old argument. “Because, pretty girls, I have work to do and it’s dangerous. You’re going to stay here with Tasha and I’m going to come visit as often as I can.” He stood to his full height.

“Are you going to bring Sara?” Pi asked, looking up at Phoebe, who stood with tears in her eyes as she watched how much Chris loved her daughters and how much they loved him.

“Did you want me to bring Sara?” Chris asked, looking from one identical face to the other.

“She’s all right,” Pi said, keeping her gaze on the ground while she huddled next to Chris’s leg.

“She’s cool!” Pay exclaimed, earning a laugh of relief from Phoebe and a smile to Chris.

“Then I’ll bring her with me,” Chris said, ducking down again. “Kiss,” he said, pointing to his cheek. Both girls giggled and pecked at his cheeks. “I love you,” he said to them both.

“I love you, Chrissy!” they both chorused both jumping into his arms for one last squeeze. “Bye, Sara!” Pay shouted when Tasha had pulled them away. Chris reached for Phoebe’s hand and then they were gone.




“Thank you,” Phoebe whispered when they’d reappeared in the attic. Chris only nodded mutely, giving her a small, sad smile before turning his attention to his mother, father and aunt.

“What do we got?” Chris asked, taking a seat on the floor by the low table the rest of his family surrounded.

“Not good news, I’m afraid,” Paige said. Phoebe took a seat beside Chris. “They’re immune to spells and potions. And our powers won’t work on them because they are of our line. Our powers are their powers.”<br>
“So, what can we do?” Phoebe asked, studying the drawing of the two sisters from the Book of Shadows.

“Don’t really know,” Piper admitted. “There’s not much to go on in the Book of Shadows.”<br>
“We could do a time spell, like Chris did. We could go back even further, before they were turned,” Phoebe said.

“No,” Chris said quickly. “We don’t know how much of an effect they’ve already had on the timeline. Things could change too much.”<br>
“What do you mean?” Paige asked.

“I mean I’m all for saving family, but it could shift your timeline. I mean, they could have been responsible for any number of tragedies in the Halliwell family tree. The further back we go, the bigger the possible shift.”<br>
“So? What’s the big deal?” Phoebe asked.

“Think about it!” Chris barked. “All right, say the sisters were responsible for Grams death—“

“You’re saying they went to the trouble of pushing a sick woman down the stairs?” Piper scoffed.

Chris looked extremely confused for a moment, then shook his head impatiently. “Not your Grams! My Grams!”<br>
“I, for one, would like for my mother to be alive. Isn’t that what you’re fighting for?” Phoebe argued.

“If Grams hadn’t died, let’s think of some possibilities on the effect. How about because of her heartbreak with Sam, she warns you away from Dad before you have the chance to fall in love?” he snapped at his mother. “What if when Prue died and Paige comes into your lives, Paige can’t get over the fact that her mother abandoned her and had never bothered to seek her out, even in adulthood? Now, I would have loved to have known her in life, but—“

“We get it!” Phoebe snapped, ending the argument. “No going back in time.”<br>
“No, but how about bringing some time forward,” Paige said cryptically.

“What are you talking about?” Leo asked.

“You told me that you’ve summoned Melinda Warren before. Why can’t we do it again?”<br>*******************

[mcharmed21]

The Charmed Ones, their former whitelighter and the heirs to their line, the youngest holding his elder brother on his hip, watched as a swirl of white lights pushed apart and a beautiful woman was left, smiling at the three sisters. “Blessed be,” she said, her smile brightening the room and seeming to lighten the spirit of both Phoebe and Piper.

“Melinda!” Piper smiled, pulling the woman into a hug.

“Piper! Phoebe!” she called in return, hugging them both. “Where’s Prue?”<br>
Piper smiled a sad but resigned smile. “We lost her. You might want to start paying attention to who’s up there with you,” she laughed.

“I need to give her a lecture for not visiting with me,” Melinda laughed once she realized the wound of their sister’s death was one healed over.

“This is our other sister, Paige,” Phoebe introduced, tugging on Paige’s hand so that she would join the group.

“Welcome to the family,” Melinda greeted warmly, hugging Paige. She relaxed happily in the woman’s arms. “Now don’t tell me Matthew has escaped the locket again?” she asked worriedly.

“No,” Phoebe said. “I’m afraid we need advice on an even more personal matter.”<br>
Melinda nodded, but then glanced at the two men and a baby standing off to the side. “Introductions first.”<br>
“Of course,” Piper chimed in. “This is my—husband?” Piper said, looking confused as she gestured to Leo.

“Well, either he is or he isn’t,” Melinda laughed, offering a hand to him.

“We’re sort of divorced,” Piper said sadly, not daring to meet Leo’s gaze as he knew and felt the regret at the statement as sure as he knew he would always be in love with Piper.

“Divorced?” Melinda seemed amused. “I thought that was only something English Kings did?” Piper only shrugged, not wanting to lose themselves on the tangent.

“Leo,” Leo provided as he took Melinda’s hand. “An honor to meet you.”<br>
Melinda smiled sweetly at him and then extended her hand to Chris. Piper had begun speaking again, but the moment Chris took Melinda’s hand, she’d zoned out as images rushed into her mind. When she came back to herself, she jerked her hand free with a hiss, her face twisting in confusion. “You are a paradox. Both of you,” she said, gesturing to Chris and Wyatt in his arms. “But you especially,” she spat, pointing an accusing finger at Chris. Chris held his brother a bit closer and raised his chin defiantly as he squared off against the woman before him.

“Melinda—“ Piper started, but Chris cut her off.

“Not who you were expecting to continue your line?” Chris spat back at her, feeling Melinda’s surprise and disappointment as to his and Wyatt’s gender.

“My line is of daughters,” Melinda said. “You taint it.”<br>
“That’s my son you’re talking to!” Piper shouted, stepping between Melinda and Chris. “And you are in my house, so I suggest you back off. We summoned you for help, if you feel it beneath you to work with us, by all means leave. But know that if you do your line may very well end with my sons.”<br>
Melinda drew back, taking a deep breath as she seemed to consider Piper’s words. “No men were to be born of my blood,” she said simply. “It was part of the deal.” She turned to Chris, studying him from head to toe, seeming to search him for something. “I’m sorry. My outburst was more from surprise than anger.” She was lying; Chris could feel it, but he made no comment, only nodded at her. Something was wrong and Melinda seemed to know what it was.

“What deal?” Phoebe asked.

“It’s no matter. A business long since over and done with,” Melinda answer vaguely, her eyes never leaving Chris. “You certainly have the cheekbones,” she said coolly.

“I assure you I have more than that,” Chris hissed. The feelings this woman held towards him was starting to affect him. He glanced at Phoebe, knowing she felt it too.

“Chris!” Phoebe piped up desperately. “Why don’t you take Wyatt and Leo to meet the girls?” Chris decided not to respond, just orb away with Wyatt, Leo hot on his heels.

Melinda sighed with audible relief when they’d exited. Phoebe was about to begin questioning her when Piper spoke up, her voice low and cold. “You will not speak to my sons that way, or about them. You have no right,” she hissed.

“He orbed,” Melinda said flatly. “More of an abomination than I thought.” Before any one could stop her, Piper slapped Melinda. Melinda went to retaliate, but Phoebe and Paige both stepped between them.

“Watch it!” Paige warned, knowing that Melinda still didn’t know of the fourth Charmed One’s history.

“Chris!” Piper called. “Chris!” No one came. “Take me to him,” she asked, turning to her youngest sister.

“Piper, no! The girls,” Phoebe interjected as Melinda wiped her cheek. “The quicker we get information from Melinda, the quicker we can send her back.”<br>
Piper nodded and took a seat. On the soft couch in the attic, her anger barely concealed. Phoebe bit her lip, wishing she had Chris's control over empathy because as it was, her head was about to explode. Piper sat silently fuming while Melinda did the same. Paige seemed confused and hurt, and Phoebe knew it was because of their ancestor referring to Chris's half-whitelighter side, something he shared with Paige, as an abomination.

"All right," Phoebe said loudly, trying to break the tension. "We're here to talk to you about your sisters," she told Melinda.

Immediately, Melinda's jaw dropped, her anger momentarily gone in favor of shock. She then slow regained her composure. "I don't have any sisters."

Paige laid the book of shadows out in front of her. "Yes, you do."

"And they're trying to destroy my family," Piper spat.

[mcharmed21]

"Seems to me that the family is already destroyed," Melinda said quietly as she scanned the entry on her demonic sisters.

Phoebe felt the rage growing in Piper. "Enough!" she said, interrupting before things could get any further. "Why are you against males being of your line?"

"My magic, my powers are meant only for women. Only women can control them, can handle the power. Men are open to corruption by evil forces."

"Well, I can assure you that Chris is not corrupted and has done more for the fight against evil than most Halliwell witches, including you!" Piper spat.

"Wait," Paige said, interrupting. "You said men are corruptible?" Melinda nodded. "That's why they went after Wyatt. Think about it, they've been messing with our family for centuries, but this will be the first time that it's had such dire consequences. Chris came all the way back from the future to put an end to it. And he may have let us see some of his memories, but I have the feeling there is so much more that he's still hiding from us."

"I don't think hiding is the right word for it now that we've seen his life. I think refusing to drudge up the pain for himself more accurately describes it."

"Still, we know it was the Warren demons that corrupted Wyatt," Paige said.

"Then why didn't they go after Chris as well?" Phoebe thought out loud.

"Am I to understand that Chris, the older, is actually the younger? And the man I just met is from the future, here to try and stop his brother's corruption?" Melinda asked. Phoebe nodded, feeling the respect for the young witch/whitelighter growing in her ancestor. "I would have to say that my sisters chose to corrupt only one in order to create a war within the family. Brother against brother. Only they would have the power to truly destroy each other and the family."

"Well, then it's working. Wyatt had already killed the three of us and one of Phoebe's daughters," Paige pointed out. "He sent back two others in an attempt to get us to kill them."

"He really has only to kill Chris. Eliminate him in this time or another and he'll have succeeded in destroying the uncorrupted line, except for my daughters and without Chris, they’d already be dead," Phoebe reasoned.

Piper seemed to gasp at a realization. "But I don't think Wyatt knows when he was turned."

"How do you mean?" Phoebe asked.

"He wouldn't want to stop his own turning, would he?" Piper asked. All three of the other witches shook their heads. "But he's been sending the assassins back after me. He's trying to stop Chris from ever being born, not knowing that it is during Chris's birth that we're distracted enough to allow the demons access."

Paige was pacing. "All right, so now we have the why. We already knew when and how and who. Now, all we need is a way to stop them."

"You can't," Melinda pointed out. "They can't be vanquished by witches of my line. It too was part of the deal."

"I think it's time you told us all about this deal."

“In the morning,” Leo said as he orbed in. “It’s past midnight and we all need some sleep as well as some time to let everything sink in.”<br>
“Where’s Chris?” Piper asked, her voice showing her concern.

“He’s staying with Tasha and the girls. They seem to have a calming effect on him as he does on them.” Leo turned, smiling at Phoebe. “They’re beautiful.”<br>
Phoebe smiled brightly and then turned to lead Melinda from the attic, depositing her into her own room for the night, Phoebe deciding to bunk with Paige.

“Tell me about them,” Paige whispered after rolling over to face her sister.

Phoebe smiled brightly, seeming to illuminate the darkness with it. “I named them after my sisters. Prudence, Paige and Piper. Pi and Pay, they go by. Chris calls them Pay Day and Sweetie Pi. They call him Chrissy.”<br>
“Now that I have a hard time believing,” Paige giggled.

“They’re so strong. Pi has command over water. She can blow a stream of ice from her palm.”<br>
“Yeah, I caught that,” Paige said sarcastically, remembering that icy streaming hitting her.

“She can also freeze anything with just a touch. Pay, she can control fire. You missed the stream of fire she shot at Piper,” Phoebe giggled. “She can also heat anything. She has precise control. Chris told me she can cook without a stove. He said it comes in handy more often than they’d like to admit.”<br>
“Do you know about Prue’s powers? We saw a glimpse, but—“

“Earth. With a stomp of her foot, she could cause an earthquake. She could pull dirt right up out of the earth and form it into anything she wanted. Another skill Chris said is handy, but he also said it was quite a pain hearing them fight when they used to play in a sandbox he built for them.” Phoebe smiled, thinking about those two girls she’d gotten to meet today, thinking how lucky she would be to one day have them.

Paige turned, burying her face in her pillow in an attempt to hide her tears from her sister. It didn’t work. “What’s the matter?” Phoebe asked.

“It’s nothing,” Paige replied, trying to wipe away her tears.

“Paige?” Phoebe prodded again.

“I’m going to be murdered by my own nephew in twelve years and I’m not going to have anything to show for living: no kids, no husband, no career.”<br>
“You’re a professor at the magic school in the future,” Phoebe said. “And it may not be a glamorous job, but it’s an important one. And who said you don’t have someone? It’s not like I did until Chris was sixteen,” Phoebe whispered.

“But at least you got to have a family. At least you got to know what that felt like before you died. You had that chance.”<br>
“You will too, honey,” Phoebe whispered offering her sister a comforting hug.

[mcharmed21]

Piper watched her sisters and ancestor leave the room, leaving her alone with only Leo. And it pained her to know she was uncomfortable with that. Piper looked down, blushing, then laughed at herself. She glanced up at Leo, hoping to see her embarrassment reflected in him, but it wasn’t. Tears brimmed his eyes and he looked worn. “Leo?”<br>
Leo shook his head, dropping down onto the couch. “I don’t want the future Chris knows,” he whispered, almost to himself.

“Where are you in the future?” Piper asked seriously as she took a seat beside him, her hand automatically resting on his shoulder.

“Chris explained it as where he and the resistance fight Wyatt and distract him, I’m working to collect an army of creatures powerful enough to actually stop him. He says we fight the same enemy from opposite sides. He says he understands it and accepts it.”<br>
“But?” Piper asked, knowing there was more.

“But I can’t accept that. I can’t accept that I’m running and hiding and have practically abandoned him. I—“ Leo shook his head again and pushed away his tears. “I don’t want that. To be fighting one son and barely know the other? To not be with you,” he added in a whisper. He stood from the couch, wiping more tears away. He faced away from her, staring at the book and the colored windows now only shades of gray in the night. “I love you Piper. I love you so much,” he confessed. “I can’t do this.”<br>
“Can’t do what?” Piper asked.

“Can’t continue to be an Elder, an absent father. It was tearing me apart before, but now? Now that I know what happens? How can I be so stupid as to actually believe that abandoning my family was the right course?” he shouted, his pacing paused. Finally he turned to face Piper. “Three days ago, I couldn’t even imagine not being there when my family needed me. And then I saw Chris’s memory of your death. I saw my son cradling his mother, the woman I love more than anything, screaming for me. He was screaming and crying and in so much pain, so much fear and I never came. How could I not have come?” he asked her, wishing she had an answer for him.

Piper stood slowly, her arms wrapping tenderly around him. “What Chris remembers is not what is going to happen,” she said, her voice strong and sure. “We are going to change it. He will not be born in the middle of an intersection with glass in his gut. He will not watch his brother murder everyone he loves. He will not know the burden of taking care of an entire resistance movement. He will know his father.”<br>
Leo held her tighter, as he cried into her hair. They held each other for a long moment until the hug went from comforting each other, to relaxing into that embrace. Leo’s hand slid down Piper’s back, easing the strong hold he had on her. He stepped back, his eyes on anything but Piper and Piper finally saw the blush crawling up his neck and face. “I should go,” he whispered, dropping completely away from her.

Piper started to see the shimmering lights that would mean his disappearance and she grabbed onto him, her arms wrapping around him. She felt herself start to disappear even as she felt Leo’s lips crash into hers. She was standing in a swirl of light, her senses dominated to the point of being overwhelmed. And then they were solid again as Leo’s hands slid beneath the back of her shirt.

Piper deepened the kiss, not willing to allow it to end, not willing to let the future be as it is in Chris’s mind. There was so much she could change and it started here. “I don’t want you to go,” she admitted even as she pulled away from the kiss, only to have Leo move his attention from her lips to her neck.

“I won’t,” he promised between kisses.

Piper gripped the hair at the back of his head gently, pulling him away only to catch his eye. “Do you mean that? Really and truly mean that?” she asked desperately.

“Yes,” he answered honestly. “I’ll plead with the council. I’ll take Chris with me to show what is to become of the world. If they won’t make an accommodation, I’ll clip my wings, Piper. I promise I’ll do anything to be here with you, with our boys.”<br>
Piper’s response was in the form of a deep kiss as clothes began to disappear. Leo eased them both onto the couch, deepening the kiss even further as his tongue teased the roof of her mouth.

“Oh my God!” Chris shouted as he orbed into the room, immediately turning away from his half clothed parents. Piper blushed as she pulled her discarded sweater from the floor to cover herself. Leo made similar actions. “I make it my entire life without ever walking in on my parents and now? Now you two decide to go at it?” he grumbled even as he dug through some of the chests scattered through the attic, his eyes resolutely not on his parents. “Couldn’t you two get a room or something? Instead of here, in the attic?”<br>
“Well, perfect child,” Leo laughed. “We were practicing.”<br>
“Practice does make perfect,” Piper added.

Chris groaned at his parents’ horrible sense of humor. As he finally found what he wanted. “I’ll be back in the morning. Try to be clothed, please?” he asked, still not looking at them even as he orbed out.

“What did he take?” Leo asked.

[mcharmed21]

“Old clothes,” Piper said. “I’m assuming for the girls.”<br>
“Now, let’s do what our son suggested,” Leo said mischievously, wrapping his arms around Piper completely as he orbed them out, dropping them neatly onto the bed they once shared and would again.


Piper couldn’t sleep; she was too happy. She was lying in her husband’s arms, their bare skin sticking together from the sweat they’d managed to work up. She listened to the comforting sound of Leo’s soft, even breaths as she stared at the ceiling, counting all the things she was going to make happen for her future and for the future of her family. And for what felt like the first time in a long time, she felt like it could all be accomplished.

She cuddled deeper towards Leo’s side, kissing the warm skin of his shoulder before closing her eyes, deciding she’d need sleep if she would ever be able to help out tomorrow with the impending vanquish, or what ever it was they chose to do about the Warren sisters.

That’s when she felt it, her body tense of its own volition. Her breath caught in her lungs and she gasped, trying to control herself. Leo woke beside her, inanely asking for her as he rolled to face her, fear immediately in his face. Pure terror ripped into Piper as she panicked over what was happening. And then she heard the terrified cry echoing through her head. “Mom!” Chris screamed. Piper felt herself relax, her breathing becoming her own.

“Piper?” Leo asked again. “What is it? What happened?”<br>
“Chris!” Piper shrieked, still trying to catch her breath.

Leo immediately closed his eyes as he concentrated on sensing him. It didn’t take long. Soon he felt the pain and terror Piper had. “It’s bad,” was all he could say. He hopped off the bed, pulling his jeans on and grabbing for his discarded shirt. Piper wasn’t far behind, pulling on her own clothes even as she panted for her breath.

“Paige! Phoebe!” Piper screamed. “Get up and get to Chris!” Without making sure they’d heard or woken, she jumped into Leo’s arms to orb with him.




When their vision cleared, they stood in a dark field, a small fire at one end where a campsite had been set up. Piper saw the two identical girls who’d tried to kill her standing with their hands joined. She saw as the creature in front of them froze in a chunk of ice up to the waist while simultaneously catching fire.

Piper redirected her attention, seeing Chris lying in the dirt, his body twitching and flailing. “Leo!” Piper screamed, pointing to him. She walked up to the two girls. “Are you two all right?” she asked.

“Evil witch!” Pi screamed, pointing at Piper, her hand moving to her mouth to use her powers.

Phoebe and Paige orbed in behind them, Phoebe grabbing them both away from the impending attack.

“Piper!” Leo shouted, bringing her attention back to her husband and son, still lying in the dirt twitching slightly. “I can’t heal him.”<br>
“What do you mean you can’t heal him?”<br>
“There isn’t any wound. He’s not actually injured.” Piper dropped onto her knees beside her son, trying to give him the comfort of her touch.




“Sara, she’s evil!” Pay cried, pointing to Piper. “She’ll kill Chrissy!”<br>
“No, she won’t. I promise,” Phoebe tried to reassure the girls. “She’s trying to help him.” Phoebe looked up at her sister. “We have to find a way to reverse the spell on these two.”<br>
Paige nodded mutely and started pacing, tapping at her chin as she thought. “I wish I will I wish I might allow these two girls to see the right. Take away the blinding spell so they will recognize a Halliwell,” she said. A dull blue glow overtook the girls for a second and they blinked as if just waking.

“Chrissy!” Pay screamed, seeing him on the ground by the fire. She and her sister both ran full force at him, knocking Piper to the ground to get to him. “Wake up Chrissy!” Pay demanded.

Pi shook him, tears streaming down her face. “Wake up, Chrissy,” she pled quietly. “Please wake up.”<br>
They all looked down at him, seeming at a loss for what to do as he thrashed again as if stuck in a nightmare. “Mom!” he screamed, his first intelligible word since they arrived.

“I’m here, baby,” Piper said, kneeling by him, her hand pushing through his hair. “I’m here.”<br>
Pay and Pi both looked up at her, confused why the evil witch would answer in Chris’s mother’s place. Then they looked at the rest of the people around them. They began to recognize the faces of their family, of their uncle Leo, their aunts Piper and Paige seen only in worn and faded photographs. Then their eyes landed on Sara, but she wasn’t any more. She was their mother.

“Bianca!” Chris cried in his restless sleep, his face twisting into pain as tears began to flow through lids tightly clamped. “No, Wyatt, please,” he begged.

“Where’s Tasha?” Paige asked suddenly, looking around the clearing. Pi pointed to a puddle of silvery goo about ten feet away. “Eww,” Paige answered. “What happened?”<br>

[mcharmed21]

“Kierzak demon,” Pi said, never looking away from her mother. “It uses someone’s strongest power against them. It made Tasha shift and shift and shift until she lost her form completely.”<br>
“And Chris?” Leo asked desperately.

“Chrissy’s strongest power is empathy,” Pi said softly.

“When used in tandem with projection,” Phoebe finished. “He’s feeling his own emotions and sending it back to him. It’s just going to keep building.”<br>
“Until it goes kaboom,” Paige said.

“No!” Piper screamed, the two girls joining her as they fell to the ground beside Chris, not willing to lose him, not knowing how they could possibly survive with his death.
*********

Leo was pacing as four Charmed Ones sat in a circle, two adults, two children. Piper knelt in the center of the circle as her family chanted. She felt the spell begin to work, felt herself going into her son’s mind in an attempt talk him out of causing his own death. She felt herself collapse onto the carpeted floor. And then she was standing.

“Bianca, get out of here!” Chris screamed. Piper turned to face him, seeing him surrounded by flames. She instinctively tried to freeze the scene, but failed, her powers once again useless in Chris’s mind. He tossed potion bottles with his hands and demons with his powers. And each time a demon managed to hit him with a fireball or energy ball, he took a moment to close his eyes and project all that pain back onto them, keeping them distracted long enough for him to recover.

“Chris!” Bianca cried from her place on the ground. Piper looked around, recognizing the alley behind P3. She looked down at the woman her son loved and then gulped at what she saw. The young woman lay in a pool of her blood, her face pale, losing its color. As Chris continued to fight off the demons, his reserves of strength began to dwindle. “Chris,” Bianca said desperately as she tried to crawl to her feet.

That is when Piper caught sight of a more startling sight: Bianca’s swollen stomach. She watched the young woman lay her hands over her stomach protectively, but the blood that stained the crotch and legs of her jeans showed it to be a fruitless act.

Chris vanquished the last of the demons, turning to her tired, sore, hurt and then there was terror in his eyes as he looked at her, previously unaware of the extent of her peril. He reached his arms out, catching her as she collapsed, already in a swirl of orbs. Piper was dragged behind.

“Shay!” Chris screamed as he laid Bianca down on a pile of blankets in the same room Piper had seen when she had witnessed Phoebe’s death. “Leo!” he screamed, looking towards the ceiling as if his father would appear and sadly, Piper knew that Leo wouldn’t. “Dad, please! Please!”<br>
“Chris?” Piper asked, stepping up to him, moving to rest her hand on his shoulder. Only, her hand fell through it, unable to touch him.

The demon Chris had vanquished in their attic arrived, immediately turning back into the hallway, shouting orders to anyone nearby before ducking back in. She knelt down beside Bianca and instructed Chris to take his love’s hands, hold them behind her head. Shay leaned over, resting her ear on Bianca’s stomach.

“Chrissy!” a chorus of excited wails came. “B!” Piper turned to see three identical toddlers run into the room, unaware of the commotion as they ran immediately for a pile of toys by the door. Tasha soon arrived, her face paling in shock as she took in the sight.

“Tasha! Get them out of here!” Chris screamed, his face twisting into rage. Tasha immediately corralled them all up and scooted them from the room.

“Chris, I’m sorry,” Bianca said. “I’m so sorry!” She could barely get the words out as she began to cry. “This is all my fault!”<br>
“No,” Chris said quietly, bending to kiss her forehead. “This isn’t your fault. It’s not your fault.” Piper could see the tears in his eyes, see his body shaking in panic and grief, but he held back. “It’s not your fault.”<br>
Shay lifted her head from Bianca’s abdomen and shook her head at the two of them sadly. Bianca let out a grief-filled wail as she clawed at his shirt, hiding herself in the worn fabric as best she could. Chris only nodded at Shay, his jaw clenched as he fought for control.

“Bianca,” Shay said quietly, getting the young woman’s attention. “I’m going to go get some herbs to induce labor.”<br>
“No!” Bianca screamed again, her face stained with tears.

[mcharmed21]

Chris held her as she cried, helped her hold the cup of putrid liquid as she drank, held her hands as she went through labor. But, there was no happy cry, only silence and then Bianca’s sobbing. Piper watched the tiny little girl as she was wrapped in a blanket and sat in a basket by Shay as she and two others who had come to help left. Chris stood, tossing all the blood soaked blankets through the curtained door way. He picked up a bucket and knelt beside Bianca. Piper watched as he tenderly cleaned her up, wiping blood and mess from her legs. He then knelt, wrapping her in his arms, lifting her from the ground.

He moved them both to a pile of blankets and pillows that it was sadly apparent they shared as a bed. Piper watched as Chris spooned behind Bianca, his arms wrapping her tightly as she cried. “Shh, baby, everything is going to be fine.”<br>
“No,” Bianca whined. “I lost our baby, Chris. I lost her.”<br>
“No,” he said soothingly. “No, she was stolen from us,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry Chris. I know what having her would have meant to you. I would have done anything— I shouldn’t have gone to the club.”<br>
“Shh,” Chris said again. “At least I didn’t lose you. I couldn’t bare losing you,” he admitted, tears threatening to spill as he buried his face in her hair. “I love you,” he said. “I love you so much.”<br>
“I love you, Chris,” Bianca whispered as if they were the most precious words.

“Do you want to see her?” Chris asked, his face still hiding in her hair.

“No,” Bianca said dully. “No, I don’t want to remember her dead.” Chris only nodded.

Piper watched as they held each other, Bianca sobbing, Chris trying only to sooth her. She wanted the moment to end. She wanted to leave. She was intruding and she knew it, but couldn’t tear her eyes away. “Chris,” she said again, quietly. She reached forward to touch him again, again her hand falling through him. She gave up and sat on the floor, watching them.




“Do you really think this is going to work?” Paige asked Phoebe.

Phoebe looked up from her place on the floor, two five year olds cuddled in next to her, having cried themselves to sleep. “I don’t know,” she said honestly, “but it’s worth a try.”<br>
“This is taking too long,” Paige complained as she paced the length of the attic. “Can you sense anything from Piper? From Chris?”<br>
Phoebe glanced over at her nephew, his pale face coated in sweat as Leo tended him. He still spasmed and occasionally let out a few intelligible words. “Chris is a wall to me. Everything he’s feeling is directed inward.”<br>
“What about Tasha?” Paige asked, gesturing to the bucket they’d gathered the young witch into.

Phoebe shrugged. “I can feel something, but I can’t explain it. She’s alive, though.”<br>
“Piper?”<br>
“Sadness. Intense and unforgiving sadness.”<br>



Hours passed as Piper watched them. Bianca cried herself out and fell into a dreamless sleep. Chris continued to hold her, his face blank as he stared dully at the wall an occasional string of whispered, comforting words falling from his lips. And then he moved, for the first time in hours. He eased Bianca out of his embrace, settling her on the pillows. He crawled to his feet and staggered to a trunk, pulling out a pouch, tying it to his belt.

Quietly he approached the basket where his dead daughter rested. Piper choked back a sob of her own as she watched him duck down, tenderly scooping the too tiny infant into his arms, cradling her against his chest. He pushed the blanket away to see her face, a tiny innocent face. Softly he ran the back of his finger over her cold cheek. Piper’s heart broke when she saw the sight of her granddaughter. Piper watched him clench his jaw as he fought back tears and sobs and his emotions. He hadn’t shed a tear. Not a single tear.

[mcharmed21]

She followed him as he walked down the low tunnel that served as a hallway in the maze he called the Cavern, the maze he called home. She followed behind him, seeing the sad and pitying faces that lined the walls as they made way for him without thought. She saw them all beaten and wounded, scared and hungry looking to this man for answers, this man who couldn’t be more than twenty, had the weight of the magical world on his shoulders. She may not be an empath, but she could feel the respect and love these people had for her son. She could feel the sympathy from them as they watched their leader carrying his dead child.

Piper felt herself moving downward, the tunnel curving around and sloping downward and she briefly wondered why Chris had not orbed. But then she knew. His people needed the chance to mourn this loss. She suddenly realized that this wasn’t just a stroll through the hallway. This was a funeral procession. She saw others coming to join her, following behind him silently, the entire system of tunnels and caverns echoing with their footsteps, the only sounds.

The long tunnel emptied out into a large cavern lit by the torches of those who had followed. Chris stood still for a moment as his followers placed the torches on hooks that lined the wall. He stepped over to a large stone and knelt before it. Piper looked, seeing crude carving in the uncut rock. “Charmed One, sister, wife, mother, hero. Piper Halliwell,” she read, gasping at the sight of her own grave.

She watched silently as Chris raised his hand, an arm still wrapped securely around his daughter, her granddaughter. Using his powers, he pushed dirt aside, digging a small hole in the grave of his mother. “Leave me,” he said sternly.

“Chris—“ Shay tried to argue.

“I said go!” he growled, his anger apparent. Piper watched as everyone scampered away.

With one hand, Chris ripped the pouch from his waist, dumping a pile of crystals onto the ground. He dropped the fabric and waved a hand, forming the crystals into a circle surrounding him and the grave that would serve double duty.

Piper glanced at the crystals, knowing they would block his powers, seal him into this space. She looked around at the other uncut stones, each etched with a name and a few thoughtful words. But the crystals still caught her attention as they began to glow, their magic working. She stepped into the space with him.

Chris crouched beside the hole he’d dug. “Please, Mom,” he whispered, his voice cracking into a sob. “I know it’s been too long since I’ve been here,” he said, glancing over to a stone nearby scratched with the names Phoebe Halliwell and Jack Andrews. He then looked back at the precious bundle in his arms, his voice leaving him momentarily as he laid a hand over his mouth to stifle the sob. “But not nearly long enough,” he added.

“This is your granddaughter, Mom. Bianca and I didn’t even get a chance to name her. She didn’t even get a chance to live, to breath. She didn’t have a chance. I couldn’t even give her a chance,” he cried, tears flowing feely now. Piper felt the emotions he was radiating sear her and knew why he’d locked his magic in with the crystals. He bent, kissing his daughter’s cold forehead before lowering her into the hole he’d dug. “Goodbye little girl. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you. I’m so sorry.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

He stood up to his full height and using his powers, covered his daughter over with dirt. He stared at the stone that marked his mother’s grave. “Please protect her like I couldn’t. Please Mom,” he said to the stone. “Please take care of her.” Piper watched as he began to cry, quietly at first, then gut wrenching sobs and then he started screaming, forcing out every bit of anger and grief he held within him. The pain of everything in his life bubbled to the surface: his mother’s murder, his aunts’ deaths, his father’s absence, his brother’s betrayal and now the death of a daughter he would never get to know. Piper choked back her own tears as she watched her son rage, cursing his brother, cursing the gods and cursing himself for his helplessness. He dropped to his knees as his outburst continued.

Piper could feel the air itself around her begin to pressurize. She began to hurt all over as if she were being crushed. It was Chris, she knew, his telekinesis working harshly to help extinguish the emotion that raged within him. And then it hit her that this was all his emotion. This was all from inside of him. His ability to channel the emotions of others had to make him a million times stronger because for now, he was killing her as a by-product.

She collapsed on the hard packed ground. She watched as he raged, shaking and screaming and crying. She wanted to comfort him, to pull him into her arms and let him cry, but she couldn’t and she knew it. Instead she screamed for him, trying to make him hear her, feel her presence here. He couldn’t hear her, couldn’t see her or feel her. He was trapped in these memories, unable to change them or break himself out of here. And Piper was of no use to him here.

“If you can hear me, get me out of here,” Piper whispered, closing her eyes as she thought of the people in the attic back in her time. “Please, get me out of here.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

At Paige’s insistence that Leo take a break from tending Chris, he’d taken the two little girls down to the kitchen to feed them. In the attic, Paige and Phoebe listened to Piper’s quiet plea, broke the circle of candles that surrounded her and watched as her eyes fluttered open, soon followed by unnoted tears.

“What is it?” Phoebe asked, sensing her sister’s sadness. Piper shook her head, still on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. Phoebe glanced over at Chris, who shook and convulsed more harshly before. “What did you see? What’s going on?”<br>
“He can’t see me,” Piper said. “He can’t hear me and I can’t touch him. He’s trapped and I can’t get to him.”<br>
“What is he doing?” Paige asked, watching him with concern.

Piper’s face tightened as the tears renewed. “He’s burying my granddaughter,” she whispered with a cracked voice. Paige and Phoebe both let out startled gasps at the new information and turned to Chris, their pity renewed. They all watched Chris seeming in a restless sleep. They watched him twist and twitch, saw his chest panting heavy, quick breaths. “He’s getting worse,” Piper said dully.

“We should take him to a hospital,” Paige suggested. “Maybe they could sedate him so that he would feel what he’s feeling?” she clarified.

Paige shook her head. “Wouldn’t work. Medical can’t fix magical. And I checked the book of shadows. It takes a potion made from the blood of the demon who cast the spell to reverse it.”<br>
“Well then lets go back to the site of the attack and see what we can find,” Piper said, moving towards Paige to be orbed.

“We already did,” Phoebe interrupted. “While you were in his mind, Leo went back. There’s nothing but ash and bone left of him. No blood.”<br>
“Well, that’s enough,” Piper said.

“No, the potion is very specific. It requires blood,” Paige explained.

“Yes, but we can scry for it with a bone,” Piper snapped impatiently. She rolled her eyes when her sisters looked at her blankly. “That demon was from the future, meaning it exists in this time.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

“She’s right,” Phoebe said, glancing over at Paige.

“I’ll be back in a sec with a bone,” Paige conceded.

“I’ll set up the map,” Phoebe agreed, seeing her sister slide onto the edge of the couch beside Chris. She retreated to the corner.

Piper silently lifted her son’s hand, kissing the back of it as she watched his fitful sleep. “You’re going to be all right Chris. I promise.”<br>
“What happened?” Leo asked as he stepped into the attic, seeing his wife awake and sitting with their son. “What’s going on?”<br>
“Where are the girls?” Piper asked without even looking up. Paige orbed back in and handed Phoebe the bone.

“They’re with Melinda. She’s getting them dressed.” Piper nodded mutely, another tear stinging her eye. “What happened?”<br>
“I saw our granddaughter die,” Piper whispered, her voice cracking.

Leo dropped to the floor, looking at Chris as he shook. “He has a daughter?” Leo asked rhetorically.

“She died before she was born,” Piper explained. “Bianca was hurt in a demon attack. She was probably seven or eight months along. The baby died.”<br>
“What did they name her?” Leo asked.

“They didn’t. Chris buried her in my grave. He asked me to protect her, take care of her,” Piper cried, kissing Chris’s hand again.

Melinda walked into the attic, having changed into modern clothing. “At least I know that only one branch of the tree is male,” she said with a smile. She had the two dark haired girls with her, both of them running right to Chris’s side. Melinda seemed taken aback by the scene before her. “What’s going on?”<br>
“Kierzak demon,” Pay piped up.

Melinda stepped tentatively over towards the unconscious Chris. Phoebe could feel Piper’s tension from her place in the corner. Without a word, Melinda rested her hand on Chris’s forehead and gasped as she was thrown into a premonition.

“What did you see?” Leo asked. “And what did you see when you touched him yesterday?”<br>
“Yesterday, I saw his childhood here, in this house. Today I see his future.”<br>
“Which is?” Piper asked, her voice a snarling growl.

“I see him fighting. I see him hurt.”<br>
“Who’s he fighting?” Leo asked.

“A blonde man,” Melinda shrugged. “Hair long, curly. He burns a hand print onto Chris’s throat.”<br>

[mcharmed21]

“You saw the past,” Piper snapped, tugging at Chris’s shirt collar to reveal the mark that had barely begun to fade.

“No, it is the future,” Melinda said. “Both visions were of the future.”<br>
“Got it,” Phoebe shouted, hopping up from her place beside the map.

“What’s happening?” Melinda asked.

“We need a potion made from the blood of the demon that did this to him to make him better,” Piper explained shortly.

“And I found the demon. We’ll need the power of three if we’re going to subdue him and not kill him. We need his blood,” Phoebe said. She picked up a few potion bottles and athemaes.

“We’ll stay with Chris,” Leo said, gesturing to the two girls still at Chris’s side and Wyatt in his playpen in the corner.

“And I’ll start on the potion,” Melinda offered, touching the page of the book of shadows. Piper glared at her suspiciously. “He may be male, but he is a Halliwell.” Piper nodded and grabbed onto Paige’s hand as they were orbed out.





“So where is he?” Paige asked as they stepped into the old warehouse. “And what’s the plan?”<br>
“I’m going to freeze him. One of you is going to cut off a limb to get the blood from and then we vanquish him,” Piper said. “Did you hear that?” she asked, halting her movements. All three sisters strained their ears, hearing the muted laughter.

“Over there,” Phoebe pointed. The three sisters stepped out from behind the crates they’d huddle by and Piper froze the room. Paige jogged forward to the demon couple sitting beside a small fire, laughing.

“Wait!” Piper shouted. “That’s not him!” she called, looking at the male demon Paige was about to cut.

“But we scryed and he’s the only male here,” Phoebe countered.

“But I saw him before your daughters vanquished him. That’s not him.”<br>
“Maybe he—“

“Guys,” Paige interrupted, pointing to a basket by the female demon’s feet. “I think that might be him.” The trio of witches peered into the small basket, seeing a baby demon, frozen like his parents.”<br>
“The plan stays the same,” Piper said, grabbing for Phoebe’s athemae.

“Piper wait!” Phoebe shouted, grabbing her sister to stop her. “He grows up to be Chris’s ally, maybe even friend. What if he saves Chris’ life? We can’t kill him! We can’t even make him grow up fearing witches!”<br>
“She’s right!” Paige argued. “We have to do this diplomatically.”<br>
Piper wanted to argue, to slice the tiny demon open and go save her son, but her logical side kicked in that her wants were rash and could only cause worse problems. With a wave of her hand, she unfroze the heads of the two parents and then unfroze the infant.

“What’s going on?!” the male shouted.

“We’ve come to beg a favor,” Piper said, lifting the baby delicately from the basket.

“You leave my son alone!” the female screamed.

“You’ve got a funny way of begging, witch,” the male snapped.

“I am begging as a parent to a parent, not witch to demon,” Piper clarified, taking a seat with the baby in her arms still. “I have a son by the name of Christopher. He came to me, all grown up from the future. And he was being hunted by a great evil that has enslaved many. One of the enslaved is your son here. He was sent from the future to kill Christopher. And he is succeeding.”<br>
“Good,” the demon mother snapped. “Horrible meddling witch!”<br>
“Your son was vanquished by my two nieces, in defense of their cousin. And now my son lays dying, trapped in his own mind.”<br>
“Your family vanquished our son and you expect our help?” the father demon growled.

“Christopher came back to stop the great evil that is enslaving all. Helping him survive will change the future. Your son will not be sent back to this time to meet his doom.”<br>
Neither of the demons said anything, seeming to mull it over. Piper cooed and giggled at the little boy.

“What do you want?” the female finally asked.

“This little one’s blood,” Piper said calmly, still cooing at the baby, making faced at him. “Just enough to make a potion that will restore my son.”<br>
“And if we refuse?” the male asked.

“I’ll take it anyway,” Piper said, her voice hard and lethal as she finally looked up at the two of them.

[mcharmed21]

“All we need now is the blood,” Melinda said as she stirred the smoking kettle on the table in the attic. Leo nodded and went back to watching Chris. He was getting worse, his breath harsh and irregular. He barely moved at all now and tears had begun to escape from beneath his eyelids.

The was a huge swirl of shining orbs as Paige and her sisters orbed into the attic, a pair of demons and their child in tow. Melinda hissed and took a step back, preparing to fight. Piper ignored her. “Leo, we’ll need you to heal the child after we’ve taken the blood we need.”<br>
Leo nodded and moved to stand beside the female demon as she held her son. Piper raised an athemae, touching the blade to the inside of the baby’s forearm. “Ready?” she asked quietly, looking up to see the demon mother nodding.

She made the slice quickly and moved the baby’s arm to drip blood into the bubbling potion even as he screamed in pain. The potion burst dark purple smoke and Piper nodded to Leo, who healed the child immediately. As Phoebe and Paige went to bottling the potion, Piper thanked the demon couple. “You may have just saved us all,” she said cryptically.

“Where are the two that killed our son?” the father demon asked. Piper gestured to the two girls huddled beside Chris. “Killed by children?”<br>
“Charmed Ones,” Piper offered. “Paige, can you take them back?” she asked quickly, taking the small bottle from her sister.

Paige grabbed the demons, orbing them from the room. Phoebe rounded up her daughters, pulling them out of the way to watch, just as Melinda stepped away. Leo sat on the couch by Chris’s head, grabbing his son’s arms, holding him down. Piper unstoppered the bottle, preparing to pour the contents down his throat and then paused. “Phoebe,” she said quietly. “Crystals, please?”<br>
“What? Why?” Phoebe stuttered, confused.

“Because he’s very powerful, Phoebe. And all that rage that is faced inward is about to be faced outward. I don’t want any incidents.” Piper watched as Phoebe did as she was asked, circling them with the crystals and knew that Phoebe was only doing it to patronize her, not believing Piper’s warning. But Piper had felt it first hand, Chris’s powers raging. Paige orbed in, standing behind her nieces.

Piper tipped the bottle into Chris’s mouth and then closed his jaw, forcing him to swallow the mixture. She was wondering how long it would take, but then she felt the pressure in the air as she had in his mind. She looked at Leo as he gasped in surprise at the sensation, dropping Chris’s hands. Instead he grabbed onto his temples as he dropped onto the floor. Piper held Chris’s hands again. She raised them to her face to kiss even as the discomfort turned to pain. “Chris,” she whispered as she began to cry tears of anger and hate and frustration and grief. “Chris, please wake up,” she demanded, knowing those emotions were not her own.