A/N I found this one hidden between my files, and decided it was time to share it. Just another drabble exploration of the things Chris is willing to do for his family, no matter what the cost.
He's always been unsure of his place with the Halliwells, both in his timeline and the one he is in now. Wyatt was always more important, Twice-Blessed, born on the Nexus, most powerful creature in the magical world. Chris was the second boy, born on an insignificant date, strong but just short of stronger. He lived in Wyatt's shadow, and the Elders had watched him constantly to make sure he didn't step out of it, stepped up and beyond their greatest treasure.
It's like they expected Chris to be Wyatt's evil opposite. Like the Halliwell brothers were meant to be the representation of the balance in the world. The Halliwells know better than any other family how beings beyond time and space make sure the amount of Good and Evil never differs too much.
For Golden-Boy Wyatt, there had to be an enemy of equal power and intelligence and cleverness, and the elders that agreed with Gideon dumped that evil role on Chris. Little did they know that the opposite would come true, and that it would be Wyatt who wiped the angels out of existence, that they were responsible for it
Chris can't remember a time when he was happy, those few memories so old that they have been replaced by pain and experience. And still he has tried, still he can't bear to kill Wyatt, still he tries to help the family that he loved, but that never loved him back, not the way he wanted them to.
It might have been Bianca's plan to keep his identity a secret, but it was also the only way he could ever figure out if people loved him for him, and not out of misguided family obligation. It hurts to know the truth. They don't, they can't.
Just before he throws the potion to create a portal, he closes his eyes and speaks the words, eyes focused on his mother's pregnant figure.
"From whence they came, return them now; vanish the words, vanish my powers."
"Chris!" Paige yells, recognizing the spell first, unsure what he is doing, but sure she has to stop him.
He holds her back with his powers, relishing in the last time he will get to feel like this. Power thrums in his veins, a feeling of home returning to relax his struggling emotions. He has to do this. There was never a chance of binding Wyatt's powers, but his own are easy. If the Elders' prophecy is true, this timeline will have a good Wyatt, but he needs an opposite, and Chris will be it. Better he be without powers.
"From whence they came, return them now; vanish the words, vanish my powers."
Thrice. It has to be said thrice. His shield is already weakening, but the sisters have stopped trying, watching in horror as the young man who saved them all relinquishes a part of him that he will never get back.
"From whence they came, return them now; vanish the words, vanish my powers."
The shimmering blue light of his powers emerges from his chest and it feels like claws are ripping into his body to take them out. Piper screams and clutches her stomach, falling to her knees. The duplicate of Chris' powers merging and turning into one being of magic, before it disappears into thin air.
"I'm so sorry, Mom," he whispers, stepping through the portal, not looking back.