A Future Revealed
A very pregnant Piper was impatiently pacing back and forth around the
library of the magic school, waiting for Leo to come and orb her home
before Chris's birth. "Where is Leo? He should have been here by now!"
"Piper, calm down. I'm sure he's just stuck in a meeting with The Elders, or something like that. Don't worry. He'll be here. Eventually," Paige said. She bent down to pick up Wyatt, who was playing on the floor with a toy. "I could always orb you back to the manor." "No, that's okay. Leo said he wanted to orb me home." At that moment, both Piper and Paige turned towards the swirling blue orbs that appeared, expecting Leo, but only saw Chris.
"Oh, it's just you," Paige said.
"Hello to you too, Paige," Chris replied, sounding hurt.
"Oh, honey, we didn't mean it like that," Piper said apologetically. "We were just expecting Leo, that's all."
"Leo? Why? Is something wrong? Wrong with..." he said with a pointed look at Piper's stomach. "What? No, you're fine. We were just waiting for Leo to orb me back to the manor."
"No! You can't!" Chris shouted.
"Why? Were you born up here?"
"No, but..."
Piper cut him off, "But nothing. Wyatt may have been born at the manor, but you are being born in a hospital. I don't care if you come out in swaddling orbs like Wyatt did, but you are being born in a hospital." Piper looked pleased after her little rant.
"Wyatt came out in orbs?!" Chris said, shocked.
"Another point for his inferiority complex," said Paige and Piper made a face at her.
"Anyway, back to the subject at hand. You need to stay here. For Wyatt's sake."
"Wyatt? Why?" Piper asked worriedly.
"Look, I didn't want to tell you this, but Wyatt was turned evil before I was born." Chris said. Paige's mouth dropped open and Piper fell heavily into a chair.
"Chris, how could you not tell us this? This is important," Piper said.
"Well, I didn't want to worry you. I know you had toxemia from stress when you were pregnant with Wyatt, and I didn't want to go through that again." Paige opened her mouth to say something but Chris held up his hand. "When Wyatt became the spawn of evil..." Piper cut him off.
"Chris! Wyatt is not the spawn of evil! He is..."
"The son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter, who happened to turn evil. Yeah, Yeah, I know."
"How did you know I was going to say that?"
"You say it all the time in the future. Any way, back to Wyatt when became...evil. He was kidnapped by a demon a day or two before I was born. The demon planted the seed of evil in him before you and Phoebe could get him back. You and Phoebe tried to turn him back, but without the power of three, because Paige was dead, it didn't work. Everything was alright for a while, but as Wyatt got older, the evil became more apparent. I saw him meeting with demons, but you and Leo wouldn't believe me. Only Phoebe believed me, but you wouldn't listen to her either. Not until it was too late," Chris said sadly.
"Chris, the future may have changed now that Paige is still alive. You should have told us this from the beginning. We could have taken extra steps to protect Wyatt."
"I wanted to tell you but I couldn't. Not because I was afraid of changing the future too much, but because it hurt to talk about it." There were now tears forming in the corners of Chris' eyes. "I never wanted to tell you about the future. Not about Wyatt turning evil, not about Leo and I not getting along," At that moment Leo orbed in, unseen by the others. "And I certainly didn't want you to find out about your death."
Piper noticed Leo, and the pained expression on his face. "Leo," she said and tried to touch his arm, but he pulled out of her grasp. He just stared at her with the same pained expression on his face. "Let's go somewhere to talk." Piper suggested and took Leo's hand.
"But what about Wyatt?" Chris asked.
"Wyatt will stay here. You two keep an eye on him." She said and Leo orbs them both out.
"Well, I think he took that pretty well," Paige says. Chris gives her a look and she tells him, "You look just like your mother when you do that."
Gideon is talking to three tall, dark cloaked figures. "I need you three to get the pregnant witch, Piper. Make her and her sisters think you are demons. Since you're good witches, her freezing power won't work on you. Just use your power of deflection, cloning, and telekinesis to protect yourselves from the witches' other powers. I have a darklighter ready for her son, Chris. I will supply you with potions to use on Leo and the other two sisters. That should create enough of a distraction for me to get to Wyatt. Now remember, do not hurt the Charmed Ones. If necessary, only hurt Piper slightly to have Leo and her sisters come to her aid."
"Yes, master," one student replied. "But do you plan on killing both her sons?"
"Only if necessary. My main concern is what is best for the greater good, which can only be protected by the death of Wyatt."
Leo orbed Piper into the kitchen in the manor and both sat down. After a few moments, Leo broke the awkward silence. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I figured you would react like this. Besides that's not the most important thing, right now we need to..."
"What do you mean, not important? Piper, how could your death not be important enough to tell me? You are leaving..."
Before Leo could get any farther in his rant, Piper cut him off, "First of all, I don't die for another fourteen years, and second of all, we have bigger problems." Piper went on to explain the situation with Wyatt turning evil.
When she was done, Leo stood up. "I am going to kill him."
"Who? The demon? We don't even know who it is."
"No, Chris." He says and orbs out just as Paige orbs in.
"How did he take it?" Paige asks.
"I don't know. He orbed out threatening to kill Chris. Do me a favor and tell Chris Leo is after him. Will you stay with Wyatt?"
"Yeah. See you later." and she orbs out.
Leo orbed into Magic School and headed towards Chris, who was playing a game with Wyatt. Upon seeing Leo's infuriated look, Chris hurriedly orbed out, and Leo followed. Paige orbs in a few seconds later to see Wyatt sitting on the floor alone. "I take it your father found your brother."
Leo caught Chris in mid-orb in a deserted alley and roughly pinned him against a wall. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Let go of me!"
"Not until you tell me everything."
"Well, we're going to be here for a while, because I'm not telling you anything."
Leo let go of him. "Chris, I get I'm a crappy father in the future, but can we just forget about that for the present? Right now we need to concentrate on saving Wyatt and Piper. There is no way in heaven or hell I am losing either of them. I'm saving both or going to die trying."
"Okay, you're right. What do we do now?"
"You need to tell me everything you know about Wyatt turning evil and Piper's death. I wish there was a way you could show me, so I could see for myself."
"Leo, that may be the single, most genius thing you have ever said," Chris said, sounding excited.
"Really? Just, exactly what did I say?"
"The memory reliving spell! Why didn't I think of it before? Meet me at P3 in five minutes." Chris said and orbed out.
"Yeah. Totally understood every word that kid just said," Leo said, confused.
When Leo arrived at P3 five minutes later, Chris was already waiting for him, inside a circle of lit candles and a piece of paper in his hand. "Come on, hurry up. "
"Chris, what are you doing?"
"I am going to cast a spell so we can see my memories. We will see what I saw, and what I might have missed, like if I turned my back, or was unconscious. It may help us to find out who turned Wyatt and maybe find a way to save Mom."
"Chris, we are talking about major personal gain consequences."
"I know, but it's the only way," Chris said and Leo nodded his head. "Take my hand, Leo." Leo took his hand, and Chris recited:
"To remember what has past
This spell has been cast
For us to see
What happened to me."
Chris burned the piece of paper the spell was written on, and in a swirl of bright, white lights, Chris and Leo's conciseness were swept away.
When Chris and Leo became aware again, they were standing in the manor, in the living room, which looked almost the same as before the spell was cast, except for different pictures around. Almost all of the pictures included two boys, whom Leo guessed were Wyatt and Chris. There were pictures of the two as infants and as they grew older. Leave it to Piper to take all those pictures, Leo thought. There was one picture in particular that pulled at Leo's heart. There was a picture of a man, woman, and two boys, around the age of four, none of whom looked happy. What happened to our family, Piper? Leo asked himself. How could we let this happen?
Leo was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He saw Piper, looking just as beautiful as ever. She was walking right towards Leo, but walked right through him. A weird look crossed her face, and she looked around.
"Why didn't she see me?"
"These are my memories, things that already happened. Things you can't change. Unfortunately." Chris said sadly.
Leo turned his attention back to Piper, who was talking to Chris. "Happy birthday, honey." Piper said and kissed the top of his silky head.
"Where's Daddy?" little Chris asked.
"I'm sure he's in a meeting with The Elders. Don't worry. He'll be here." She began to walk away and whispered, "I'll make sure of it."
Leo had the sinking feeling he was about to get yelled at. Piper walked into the dining room, calling quietly for Leo, so Chris couldn't hear. "Leo. Leo. Get down here now!"
Leo orbed in, looking serene. "What is the problem?" he asked in a high-and-mighty Elder tone.
"Leo, drop the Elder crap. Do you know what day it is?"
"You called me down here to ask the date?" Leo replied, dropping his Elder tone.
"No! It is your son's birthday! You need to go into the living room and spend some time with him. Wyatt's not the only son who needs you. Chris does too."
"Piper, I was in a very important meeting with The Elders. You can't..."
"Leo, just shut up! You know I don't give a damn about the Elders. Today is your son's birthday. You have the rest of your immortal life to sit on your ass and meditate. Right now you are going to spend some time with your son." Piper said angrily.
"Piper..."
"I didn't call you down here to argue. Now go see your son." Leo walked into the living room and Piper shook her head at his back.
After hearing little Chris happily scream, "Daddy," Chris and Leo were surrounded in the swirl of bright, white lights, and the memory was over.
The present Piper was in the kitchen making herself something to eat when she heard a noise from the dining room. "Leo? Chris?" she called, not expecting anyone. "Paige? Phoebe?" When there was no answer, she slowly made her way to dinning room, hands out and ready to freeze or blow up anyone who was in the room. When a dark, cloaked figure walked into the kitchen, Piper screamed and tried to freeze him. It didn't work. Now Piper was really scared. Why wouldn't this demon freeze? "Who are you?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"A demon," a deep voice replied.
"No shit," she said, and gestured to blow him up, but he deflected it and it rebounded, hitting the kitchen counter. "Oh shit." She began to back up from the demon. "Leo! Chris!" There was no reassuring sound of their orbing. "Help me!" The demon grabbed her from behind, and two other demons appeared. Now Piper's fear was mixing with anger. I will not be in the hands of demons when I go into labor this time. I am going to have a normal pregnancy and birth, she promised herself. She may not be able to rely upon her powers with these demons, but this wouldn't be the first time. She began to struggle against her captors, trying to knock stuff over in hopes of getting her hands on a useable weapon. She kicked the captor behind her hard, forcing him to release her. She lunged for the knife in front of her, but it telekinetically flew away from her. Every time she tried to get her hands on a weapon, the demon to her right caused them to fly away.
"Be a good little witch and we won't have to hurt you or the baby," one demon said, after flinging the fifth knife out of Piper's hands. He then threw a vial full of a light purple liquid at Piper, and she hit the floor unconscious. The demons grabbed her and were orbed out by an invisible Gideon.
Meanwhile, Leo and Chris were in a new memory, one that seemed to have Chris terrified. Every time Leo tried to ask him a question, Chris would tell him to be quite and get a panicked look on his face. Leo contented himself with looking at pictures, some which were the same, others had two older children. Leo saw no pictures of another man, but none of him either. It looked as if Piper wasn't involved with another man, which relieved him, but it didn't look any better for his and Piper's relationship either. Leo was about to question Chris about Piper's relationship with any man, but he was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps. Leo turned to face the stairs and saw a younger Chris, around the age fourteen, coming down the stairs. He just reached the landing when Wyatt suddenly orbed in front of him, followed by three demons.
"So, Chris, have you decided to embrace your evil side, or die defying it?" future Wyatt said, forming an energy ball in his hand and extinguishing it.
"Wyatt, you won't kill me," Chris said, the fear creeping into his voice.
"Are you will to bet your life on that? Power or death, little brother. Chose."
"I'm not like you Wyatt. I'll always be good."
"Then you have chosen death," Wyatt said, forming an energy ball in his hand. "I am sorry Chris."
"Wyatt, NO!" Piper yelled, running in from the kitchen. Wyatt paid no attention to her and released the energy ball. What no one realized was that Piper kept running; pushing Chris up the stairs, out of the path of the energy ball. Instead, she ended up in the direct path of the energy ball, hitting her squarely in the back. She fell limply to the floor. Wyatt was looking at his hands as if he had never seen them before.
"Piper!" present Leo yelled as Piper's limp body hit the floor. He tried to go to her, but Chris held him back, tears streaming down his face.
"You can't help her now. She's already gone." Leo stopped struggling and began to cry. Leo hugged Chris tightly and watched as an identical looking Leo orb in, his back to Piper and Chris' limp forms, facing Wyatt.
"Wyatt, where's Piper?" future Leo asked, but received no reply from Wyatt. Wyatt was still looking at his hands as if they weren't his. After a few seconds of looking at Wyatt in confusion, future Leo turned and saw Piper's body on the stair landing. "Piper!" he screamed and rushed to her side to heal her. "Wyatt, what happened?" Instead of answering, Wyatt orbed out. "Come on Piper. Pull through, come on." Leo kept talking to her, trying to heal her. After what seemed to be eternity, Leo fell back on his heels, tears streaming down his face. Piper still wasn't moving. "Piper, I'm so sorry." He said, gathering her limp body into his arms. "I promise I'll save Wyatt. I promise," he said to her as he rocked her in his arms. After a few minutes holding Piper's dead body, he gently laid her down, kissed her forehead one last time and orbed out.
Present Leo was trying not to break down. Wyatt killed Piper. Their little boy was the one who killed Piper. The thought made Leo sick to his stomach, but he was more disgusted with himself. He had left Chris unconscious on the stairs, not bothering to check on him.
"I just left you there, no help whatsoever?" Leo asked in a quiet voice.
"Yeah."
"Now I see why you hate me. I left you alone, unconscious, vulnerable to a demon attack."
"Yeah, you did. Just wait. You're not up for the father of the year award yet." Chris replied, anger rising into his voice. Both stood there, not talking to each other, watching as the minutes ticked by.
"Why didn't she freeze him or the demons? If he were truly evil..."
"Freezing didn't work on Wyatt. He found a way to become immune to it. It might have been because Piper used her powers so much when she was pregnant with him. We were never able to find out why he didn't freeze." Suddenly, they heard the front door opening and saw an older Phoebe walk in. "Piper?" Phoebe called out, carrying a heavy bag. "Piper, I brought the..." He voice trailed off as she saw Piper and Chris' limp forms on the stairway. He ran to Chris first, checked his pulse, and heaved a sigh of relief. She moved on to Piper, and a look of fear crossed her face when she didn't feel a pulse. "Leo! Leo!" she called out, beginning CPR on Piper. "Come on damnit, Piper, breath. Leo!" Leo orbed in, eyes red-rimmed from crying. "Piper's not breathing. Heal her, then Chris!" When Leo just stood there, she asked, "What are you waiting for? Heal her!" "I can't. She's already gone. I tried to heal her earlier. She wasn't moving, she was so still. I couldn't..." Leo broke into tears. "No, she can't be dead. No way." Phoebe said, backing up the stairs towards Chris, away from Leo. "What about Chris? I felt his pulse. He's alive." "Chris? He's here?" "He's right there. You mean to tell me a demon came here, murdered Piper, and you leave you son alone to die?! God, what is wrong with you?!" Phoebe yelled, becoming hysterical. "I didn't know he was here!" Leo said, hurrying to heal Chris. "I orbed here and all I saw was Piper... dead. Some demons kidnapped Wyatt and I had to go get him." Then Leo added softly, "I promised Piper." "Damnit, Leo! When are you going to come out of your denial? Piper did. You know damn well Wyatt probably kidnapped the demons. Not the other way around. Leo, you know I would have done anything to save Wyatt, but now, especially without the power of three, I don't think I can. You need to let go, for Chris' sake. Piper would want you to." Chris was now healed and struggling to sit up. Phoebe tried to block his view of his mother. "Wyatt! Did he hurt Mom? Me? Where is he? What happened?" The hysteria in Chris' voice rose with every question. "Why would Wyatt hurt Mom?" Leo asked. "He was going to hurt me. I heard mom yell at him. She ran to me and pushed me out of the way. Then everything went black. Is Mom alright? Why are you crying Aunt Phoebe?" "Oh, Chris..." Phoebe moved aside so he could see Piper. She struggled to hold him back as he began to screaming and crying, trying to get to Piper's body. "Mom!" he yelled. Phoebe forced him into a hug and he broke down on her shoulder, and she on his. He cried like that for fifteen minutes, until he finally worked his way out of Phoebe's hug and down to Piper's body. He gently took her hand and let the tears roll off his face onto her hand. Leo came and put a hand on his shoulder. "I need you to tell me about the demons who took Wyatt." Chris didn't answer. He shook himself out of Leo hold and ran out of the manor. "Nice touch, Leo! Grill the kid about the demon five minutes after he finds out his mother is dead. Great, Leo. Worry about Wyatt who is safe with the demons rather than your son who needs you now." Phoebe angrily gathered her coat and walked outside to find Chris sitting on the swing outside. She sat next to him, gathered him in a hug, and let him cry, whispering in his ear. Leo orbed out, unnoticed by the two. Chris and Leo were once again gathered into the swirling white lights a taken away.
Paige was pacing in the library of Magic School, just like Piper had been earlier. She was worried about Piper and Phoebe. Piper was pregnant and expected to go into labor at any time, and Phoebe had no active powers. A demon attack would be deadly now, especially since she was sitting up here in magic school.
Gideon walked in, seeing Paige pacing with a worried look on her face. "Why, Paige, what is the matter?"
"I'm worried about Piper and Phoebe. Piper's pregnant, Phoebe has no active powers, and a demon attack is likely to happen soon! How do you think I feel?" Paige said, letting her frustration out on Gideon. "Sorry, didn't mean to take it out on you."
"That's quite alright. This must be a very stressful time for you," Gideon said, faking sincerity.
Paige bought it. "Yeah it is." She went on to tell Gideon about Wyatt turning evil soon.
"Oh, dear. This is quite serious. Why didn't Chris mention this before?" "I don't know. What should I do? About Piper and Phoebe, I mean."
"Go get Phoebe and stay with Piper. She needs you right now. That will be the best way to fend off a demon attack."
"Alright. I'll get Phoebe and one of us will stay with Piper while the other stays up here with Wyatt."
"No. Both of you stay with Piper. The Power of Three may be needed to vanquish any demons. I'll watch Wyatt. He'll be in good hands."
"I don't know. Piper will kill me if I leave Wyatt."
"Explain to her the Power of Three might be needed and that I am with Wyatt."
"Okay. Thanks. Bye-bye Wyatt." She gave him to Gideon and orbed out.
Wyatt's force field went up immediately. "I'll find a way through. I always do." He ignored the shock that coursed through his body as he touched the force field and orbed out holding Wyatt.
Paige orbed to Phoebe's office, sensing beforehand to make sure she was alone. She orbed in and Phoebe screamed when she saw Paige. "Don't ever scare a woman on a deadline," Phoebe warned.
"We kind of have a situation."
"Paige, either we do or we don't. Spit it out." Once Paige was done explaining everything that happened, Phoebe said, "Oh my God. We have to get home NOW. What if the demon has already attacked?"
"But Wyatt's safe at Magic School. The demon can't get him there."
"No, but the demon can get Piper." Paige hurriedly grabbed Phoebe's hand and orbed out.
They arrived at the manor only to find it empty.
"Piper? Piper, are you home?" There was no answer. "You check down stairs, I'll check upstairs," Phoebe commanded. Paige wondered into the kitchen, looking for anything that might give a clue to where Piper was. When she wandered into the kitchen, she began to yell for Phoebe. "What? Phoebe asked, running in from upstairs. "What did...Oh my God." She said, seeing the mess in the kitchen. Bowls, plates, and knives were skewed all around the kitchen. Not to mention the big hole on the counter.
"Leo! Chris! Damnit, where are you?!" Paige called, receive no
answer. "Okay. We have to assume what ever got Piper, got Leo and Chris too. Go make some basic potions. Exploding, freezing, fogging, slowing down potions... I don't care. Any defensive potions you can make, make. I'm going to scry for Piper. Alright. Let's get to work." Phoebe commanded, heading towards the attic while Paige went to the kitchen.
Leo cried throughout the next memory. They were outside, the sky gray and overcast. People were gathered around the casket, listening to a Wiccan woman speak of Piper's life. Phoebe sat in the front row, holding Chris' hand in her right, and two little girl's hands in her left. To the little girl's left was a man, and next to him sat Darryl Morris and his wife, Shelia. To Chris' right was Victor, Piper and Phoebe's father. Leo saw himself standing perfectly straight, hands behind his back in a corner of the crowd. There were tears streaming down his face onto his black robes, but he paid no attention to them. One person no seemed to notice was Wyatt, standing in the very back of the crowd. As always, he was closely followed by a fellow demon. Phoebe looked as if she would collapse if she tried to stand. Both she and Chris could barely see through their tears.
The Wiccan woman finished her speech and blew out three of the four candles by her. One by one, the crowd slowly proceeded by Piper's casket, paying their final respects. Darryl was the last of the guest to leave, placing a white rose on Piper's casket. After a while, only Chris, Phoebe, the two little girls, the man, and Leo were left. Leo touched Piper's casket one more time and quickly began to walk away.
"Dad! Wait up!" Chris called, but Leo kept walking. "I need to talk to you! Wait for me!" Leo didn't listen he kept walking away, and finally orbed away into the sky.
Phoebe caught up with Chris, taking his hand as Leo orbed away. "Come on honey. Your dad's busy," Phoebe said, throwing a dirty look into the area Leo orbed away in. Let's go home."
"He didn't want to talk to me, did he?" Chris said, now crying harder than he had during the funeral.
"I'm afraid not." Phoebe tried to calm the young boy down. "I'll take care of you now. I won't let Wyatt get to you. Now," she said drying his tears, "let's go home." Phoebe and Chris walked back to the man standing next to the two little girls and the five walked one final time past Piper's grave and to the car.
The present Leo and Chris watched the five make their way to a black SUV. Present Leo went to Piper's casket and tried to place a hand on it, watching it go right through. He looked to the grave next to Piper's and saw a headstone that made him gasp. Paige Mathews, beloved sister and friend, it read. Piper had chosen to be buried next to Paige. The though made him smile. Piper was much closer to Paige than she would ever admit. She had chosen not to be buried next to the sister she had grown up with, but the sister she had only known for two years.
Leo felt Chris move behind him, and turned to see him wiping his eyes. "I really didn't want to have to see this again. None of it. It was bad enough to live it once, but to watch it again, it's torture. I keep feeling I like I can change it, but what if I can't? What if I go back to the future to find Mom dead and Wyatt still evil? I don't think I can take it."
"I think I have a solution for that. Don't ask now. Wyatt should be our main concern. We need to get out of here soon, don't you think?"
"We will, as soon as we have learned what we need to. That's how all the spells work."
"Alright. Who were those people with Phoebe?"
"Oh!" Chris said, looking happier. "That's Uncle Trent, Phoebe's husband, and their twins, Prue and Paige. They're really great kids." Chris suddenly began to sound sad. "Too bad they didn't make it."
"Didn't make it? What are you talking about?"
Leo and Chris were beginning to be consumed by the swirling white lights. "I think you're about to find out."
Piper was tied up, gagged, and blindfolded, lying on the cold, hard floor. She tried struggling to get away, but it was no use. The ropes around her legs and arms were too tight. She laid there, thinking about what they might do to her. Was this just another attack on the Charmed Ones? Were these the demons after Wyatt? Her next thought made cold fear wash over her. Did they want Chris? Demons had tried to kidnap Wyatt when he was born, so it was entirely possible they were after Chris. Since her powers did not work on them and Leo or Chris weren't answering her calls, she had no way to protect herself. Paige was in magic school and would probably stay, and Phoebe wasn't expected home for a few hours. No one would notice her missing until it was too late. As these thoughts went through her head, Piper began to panic.
Her water just broke.
The next memory took them to a dark penthouse, one Leo didn't recognize. Leo could vaguely make out a figure standing in the living room, talking to someone.
"Damnit, Leo!" Leo recognized Phoebe's voice. "I will not let you. He's under my care now. He has no mother and a father who doesn't seem to realize he has another son."
"Phoebe," Leo recognized his own voice, "this could be our only chance to save Wyatt!"
Present Leo heard a door creak behind him and saw Chris' face peering out of the partially open door. Little Prue and Paige joined him.
"I am not letting you endanger Chris or my family. Wyatt doesn't want to talk to Chris; he wants to kill him! We have already seen he will stop at nothing to get him. He killed his own mother for goodness sakes!"
"Wyatt did not kill Piper! It was an accident!"
"You keep telling yourself that, Leo. My answers still no." Leo orbed out.
Phoebe turned around to see Chris looking out of the doorway. "Oh, honey. I didn't want you to hear that. Your dad wanted you to help save Wyatt from..."
"From what, Aunt Phoebe?" Wyatt's cold voice asked from behind. He was closely followed by three demons.
Phoebe prepared to fight Wyatt, Chris and the girls came out of the bedroom, and Trent woke up to come and investigate the loud voices. "Chris, orb all of them out of here." Phoebe commanded. "Now!" she yelled when he didn't respond. Chris attempted to orb them out, but the girls kept yanking out of his grasp.
"Bad Wyatt!" the eight-year-old Pure yelled, attempting to telekinetically hurl him across the room, but it had little effect; Wyatt just stumbled backwards a little. Wyatt threw an energy ball at her, and Chris was only able to orb Paige and Trent out of the way.
"Prue!" Phoebe yelled, trying to channel the emotions around her to throw back at Wyatt. She couldn't concentrate, not with her own emotions running so high. "Leo!" Leo did not answer.
Chris orbed back in with Paige and Trent, intent on saving Phoebe, and Paige tried to freeze Wyatt, but it had no effect. Wyatt hurled energy balls at Trent, Paige, and Chris, hitting Trent and Paige, but missing Chris.
"No!" Phoebe yelled, finally getting enough of a grip on her emotions to hurl a streak of fire at Wyatt, who orbed out, narrowly missing the stream. Leo orbed in just then. He saw Trent and the girls on the floor and attempted to heal them, with no success.
"I'm sorry," Leo said.
"No!" Phoebe howled, breaking down over Prue's body.
Wyatt orbed in. "It's a shame. They didn't have to die if Chris would come quietly. Come now and Phoebe lives."
Chris motioned to move towards Wyatt, but Phoebe stood up. "No. I will get you back for what you've done." She closed her eyes and tried to channel all the emotion she could. She hurled it at Wyatt, who once again orbed out.
"Bad idea," Wyatt said, orbing in behind her. "Excalibur!" he called and the sword orbed in to his hand. Wyatt grabbed Phoebe and stabbed her from behind. She dropped to the floor, dead.
"Noooooooo!" young Chris screamed, seeing Phoebe's spirit rise out of her body. Phoebe's sprit was suddenly joined by three others, Prue, Paige, and Piper. They quickly joined hands, creating a circle around Chris. Wyatt threw energy balls at Chris, but they rebounded off of the protective circle the Charmed Ones created.
Piper spoke to Chris, "Chris, repeat the spell after us,"
"Ancestors of the Halliwell line," began Prue.
"Rise up to protect what is mine," Piper said.
"For around me evil shall not dwell," Phoebe continued.
"This evil cannot have this Halliwell." finished Paige.
A beam of white light hit Chris, and he began to repeat the spell. When he finished, another wave of white light washed through his body. "Wyatt, you cannot hurt Chris now. He is under the protection of the Charmed Ones, and dead or alive, that protection will hold," Phoebe said. "Wyatt, please, for me, don't try to hurt him. Let him live his own life and you will live yours." Piper said. With one last smile at her children, the Piper, Prue, Phoebe, and Paige disappeared. Present Chris and Leo saw Wyatt orb out, leaving Chris alone. Then they we suddenly enveloped in the white lights and the spell was broken.
Leo and Chris returned to reality in time to hear Paige's cries for help. "Something must have happened while we were gone," Leo said.
"Wyatt..." Chris said, and both orbed to the manor.
"They orbed in the kitchen to find Paige mixing a potion.
"What happened? What... the hell happened in here?" Leo said, getting a good look of the kitchen, including the big hole in the counter. "Is Wyatt alright? Piper?"
"Wyatt is fine, and we don't know about Piper."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Chris asked.
"I mean I don't know. Phoebe and I came home to this mess, couldn't find Piper, and called for you. That reminds me...WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" At Paige's yelling, Phoebe came downstairs with the map and crystal.
"That's a good question. Where have you been?" Phoebe asked.
"The future," Leo said.
"The past," Chris said at the same time.
"Okay... it's either one or the other. So which one was it?"
"Chris' past, our future." Leo explained.
"So, you to have been skipping around time, we have been trying to find our sister, whom it seems has been kidnapped by a demon. Now, would you like to help us find her?" Phoebe said angrily. "What can we do?" Chris asked. "Make potions. Do something, anything but sit there. I'm going to scry for Piper. You better hope we find her or I'll kick both of your asses, even with out my powers. Now move!" Chris and Leo scattered to find something useful to do and Phoebe began to scry. "I've never seen two people be more motivated. Nice touch." Paige commented. "Found her!" Phoebe and Leo said in unison. "In some abandoned warehouses," they said together again. "Okay. That's just annoying." Paige said and Chris walked in. "I'll drive," Phoebe said and headed for the door. "Um, Phoebe. We're orbing." "But I can't orb." "I know. That's while one of us will orb you." Paige said grabbing potions and distributing them while telling what each was. "Explosion...freezing...sleeping..." "Nice one." Phoebe said. "Let's go already!" Chris yelled, grabbing Phoebe's hand and following Leo's orbs. Paige was close behind. When they arrived at the warehouse, they saw Piper lying on the floor, bound and gagged. As Chris took a step towards Piper, two darklighters appeared, crossbows ready to shoot. They fired their arrows, hitting Leo in the stomach and Chris in the shoulder. Paige orbed out with Phoebe just in time to avoid being hit. The darklighters black orbed out. Paige orbed back in when the coast was clear. Phoebe went to Leo and Chris while Paige carefully made her way to Piper. When she was about ten yards away, three cloaked demons appeared, forming a barrier between her and Piper.
"You are standing between me and my sister. That's not a smart idea." She hurled a potion at the first demon, but he deflected it. Paige just stared, amazed. She reached for another potion, but was telekinetically hurled across the room. She made a hard landing on the floor next to Chris. "Phoebe," she called. "I can't take them. We'll have to come back for Piper." She grabbed Leo, Chris, and Phoebe and orbed them out.
When they were back at the manor, Phoebe and Paige moved Leo to the couch and Chris to the floor. "Alright," Phoebe said taking charge, "the first thing we have to do is get the arrows out. Then Paige will assist in healing. Leo, we'll get yours first. You're worse off than Chris. Then..."
Leo cut her off. "No. Heal Chris first."
"Dad, no..."
"Yes. Heal Chris, than me."
Phoebe, looking confused, shifted to pull the darklighter arrow out of Chris when Paige stopped her. "No let me do it."
"Paige, you're a Whitelighter too," Phoebe reminded her.
"I know but I'll orb the arrows out of them and orb them across the room before they materialize." Paige didn't wait for Phoebe's consent. "Darklighter arrows!" She sent them flying across the room.
"Good job. Now heal Chris first." Phoebe said. Paige grabbed Leo's hand and let his magic flow through her to heal Chris. After that was done, both Chris and Paige assisted in healing Leo.
When both were healed, Phoebe explained about the demons, how their powers prevented her from reaching Piper. "We need a plan. We know there are three demons; one has the power of telekinesis, one with deflection, and the other we don't know. We need to find a way past them. Not to mention the darklighters. I'm the only one who can't be hurt by their arrows, but I'm also the one without active powers," Phoebe said, trying to clarify the situation.
"Is it just me, or do those sound like Wiccan powers?" Paige asked.
"They do, but telekinesis is a common power among demons. Deflection could have been stolen from a witch. God knows it wouldn't be the first time," Phoebe explained.
"I have an idea," Chris announced. "Leo and I will orb in to distract the darklighters, while Paige and Phoebe deal with the demons. Phoebe could fight with potions and her martial arts and Paige will orb Piper out."
"Good idea, except for the deflection part."
"Well, we'll just have to surprise that demon. Get him from behind."
"We don't know what the other demon is capable of."
"Alright, let's just wing it. We have to get Piper out. I'm supposed to be born soon."
Paige grabbed some extra potions and orbed Phoebe to the warehouse. Immediately they were met by the same two darklighters. "Didn't we kill you?" one of them asked, firing arrows at the three Whitelighters.
"Darklighter arrows!" Paige called, forcing the arrows to hit their owners. The darklighters flamed up and disappeared. Then the three demons appeared.
"I like our odds. Four against three. I'll take the demon to the right. Chris, the middle one, and Leo, the left one. Paige, just get Piper out of here,' Phoebe whispered to them. "On the count of three. One...two...three!" They began to attack to demons. Paige tried to make it to Piper, but one demon telekinetically hurled Paige against a wall, knocking her out. Phoebe was fighting one demon when suddenly it became two. "Oh no." She kicked at one demon, but her foot sailed clean through him. "This demon can clone!" she cried out. She felt the demon reach for her and she flipped him over her head. He landed on his back with a grunt. Phoebe looked around to see how the others were doing. She saw Paige moaning on the floor and Chris being hurled across the room. Leo was still fighting the demon of deflection. The telekinetic demon hurled Leo across the room, freeing the deflection demon to come after her. The demon with telekinesis began to head for Piper. "Piper! He's headed for you!" She tried to reach Piper, but the defelction demon sent a punch flying her way. As she blocked the punch and returned the punch, she saw an amazing sight.
Piper orbed out. Piper, who was lying tied up on the floor, orbed out by herself.
Phoebe was so shocked, she was just staring at the spot Piper had been in only a second ago. A punch to the stomach by a demon sent her back to reality. She quickly sent a series of punches towards the demon, finishing him off with a roundhouse kick. Paige and Leo were now up against telekinetic demon, using their own powers to telekinetically hurl things at him. Phoebe ran to Chris, grabbing his arm. "Orb me to manor and come back here to help," Phoebe said, finally understanding where Piper was and how she got there. Chris orbed her to the manor, not leaving enough time for himself to materialize.
"Piper!" Phoebe called, racing through the manor to find her. She finally found her in her bedroom, lying on the bed still bound and gagged. Phoebe quickly united her to find Piper crying. "You're safe now, honey. Don't worry." Piper screamed and clenched her stomach.
"Phoebe, I'm in labor."
Gideon was preparing a potion and spell to use to disarm Wyatt's force field. He had the knife ready to use once the force field was broken through. Once stabbed with this knife, the boy wouldn't live unless he himself chose to heal him. Leo's powers would be strong enough. "Only a few more minutes. A few more minutes, my boy, and the world will be safe from you. I will make sure of that." Gideon returned to his spell and potion.
Leo and Paige were simultaneously fighting the telekinetic demon when Piper orbed out. Paige was so surprised; she let her guard down, letting the demon hurl her across the room again. This time, she orbed out before she hit the wall. "Leo, did you orb Piper out?" she asked, avoiding being hit by a flying crate.
"No. I sense her at the manor. Paige, look out!" he called, seeing another box flying towards Paige. She ducked just in time. Chris orbed in behind the demon and sent him flying into the far wall. The demon, like the other two, was slumped unconscious on the floor. Leo strode over to the demon and removed the hood.
"Oh my God! That's one of the students from Magic School!" Paige said, shocked at seeing the young girl underneath the hood. They checked the other two and recognized them both from Magic School also. "I don't understand. Why would students from Magic School want to kidnap Piper?"
"They wouldn't unless they were doing it for someone else," Leo commented.
Chris looked at Leo. "Wyatt," they said in unison. Both orbed out, leaving Paige to follow.
"Okay, Piper, just breathe. We're going to get you to the hospital. Let me get your suitcase, and we'll head to the car."
"No." Piper said, wincing in pain at another contraction.
"Five minutes apart. No what?"
"We can't go to a hospital. Little Chris orbed me out of that warehouse. He has powers from the womb. What if he comes out in orbs? We can't afford to be exposed."
"Are you sure you want to have him at home? I've still got the birthing kit from when Wyatt was born. But we can go to the hospital and deal with the exposure threat later."
"We can't go to the hospital. I won't let magic be exposed. Go get your kit and hurry," she said wincing at another contraction.
"Okay. I'll call for Leo and Paige."
"No. They need to deal with the demon. I can't let a demon get to either of my boys."
"Just relax and breathe. I'll be right back."
"Easy for you to say," Piper said as Phoebe walked out of the room walked out of the room.
Leo, Chris, and Paige orbed into the library of Magic School, only to find it empty. "Gideon!" Leo called out and was not answered.
"Why wouldn't Gideon be here? He said he would stay here with Wyatt," Paige told him.
"Unless Gideon is with Wyatt, somewhere else," Chris speculated. "What if Gideon is after Wyatt?"
"Why would an Elder want to turn someone as powerful as Wyatt evil?" Paige asked.
Leo's eyes were closed. When he opened them he said, "I think Chris has a point. I can't sense Wyatt anywhere 'up here' or 'down there'. Gideon has been kind of different since we found out Wyatt becomes evil. What if he decided to take matters into his own hands?"
"We have to find him. If you can't sense them, they must be in the underworld," Chris said.
"I think you're right," Leo said and orbed out, followed by the others.
They sensed for Wyatt once they were in the underworld. When they finally got to Wyatt, Gideon was reciting a spell, athame in hand, ready to stab Wyatt. Chris quickly moved into action by telekinetically throwing Gideon across the room. Gideon, caught off guard, quickly got to his feet.
"It's too late. You're too late," he said and began to finish the spell, athame ready.
"Athame!" Paige called, orbing the athame to her. Gideon stopped reciting the spell and telekinetically took the athame back.
"You won't do that again," he said, throwing her across the room with a wave of his hand. Leo ran to heal her. He finished his spell and Wyatt's force field went down. He began towards Wyatt with the athame as Chris attempted to throw Gideon across the room again. It didn't work.
"There's something wrong with my powers! I can't do anything!" He ran towards Gideon and tackled him inches before he got Wyatt. Gideon was attempting to stab Chris when Leo telekinetically swiped the athame out of his hand.
"You have tried to kill both of my sons more than once today. Give up now, or I will be forced to hurt you."
"Leo, you are an Elder, you can't hurt me."
"Just watch me." "Leo, you know as well as I do that Wyatt should never have been allowed to be born. A son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter. Too much power for one being. I will not let Wyatt live. He has to die." "Kill him, and I will kill you." "What about your other son?" Gideon began to choke Chris without using his hands. It was some kind of telekinetic power. Chris was struggling for breath, gasping at the invisible force pressing down on his windpipe. As soon as it began it ended. Leo had driven the athame meant for Wyatt into Gideon's stomach. He stared wide-eyed at Leo and died. Paige came and helped Chris to his feet. Chris said, "Leo, he had it coming. You were just protecting your sons. Both of them. Now we need to get home. I didn't have my powers. There might be someone waiting at home for us." Leo picked up Wyatt and held him close. The four of them orbed out.
"Push, Piper. Just one more push. Make it a big one," Phoebe coached over Piper's heavy breathing. "I'd like to see you try." Piper gave one last push and Phoebe lifted a blanket of swaddling orbs. "See, I told you he would come out in orbs," Piper said exhaustedly. Phoebe cut the umbilical cord and cleared his airways and he let out a loud wail. Phoebe then gently laid the little baby boy in Piper's arms. "Hey there, baby. He's beautiful, isn't he?" she asked Phoebe, adoringly. "Absolutely. So why is his name Chris?" Phoebe asked. "After Leo's father," Chris answered from the doorway. "Is it safe to come in?" "Yes. Would you like to see yourself?" Phoebe asked him. Chris took a step closer to see and Leo sat on the bed next to Piper with Wyatt. "Did you get the demons?" Piper wanted to know. "In a way. Explanations later," Paige told her. Chris finished looking at himself and beckoned to Paige to follow him out of the room. "Wyatt, want to see your little brother?" Piper asked him and let Wyatt look at Chris. Leo happily looked at his two sons, safe and sound. Then he smiled at Piper, glade she was safe and with him. Upon seeing his look, Phoebe followed Paige and Chris out of the room, seeing Piper, Leo, and their kids needed sometime alone. She followed the other two to the attic. "We need to send me back to the future now. I can't be here with out my powers. It's not safe. I've been feeling my powers getting weaker and weaker as it came closer to my birthday. There were even times when I had no powers because the baby was using them. It's my time to back to the future and see if it is better." "Alright. We'll get everything ready now, and send you back tomorrow. It takes the power of three to send you back, and right now Piper needs to be with you. Little you, I mean," Paige said, looking confused. Leo came into the attic next. "Piper wants to see you, Paige and Phoebe." Paige and Phoebe headed downstairs as Chris was looking in the book for the spell to send him home. "It's time for me to go." "I know." Chris finally stopped at a page in the book. "Did you find the spell?" Leo asked. "No. I was just looking at the spell used to vanquish the source. In the future, after the Charmed Ones were gone, the spell began 'Prudence, Piper, Phoebe, Paige...' I really hope it isn't like that in the future." "Chris, I want to thank you for coming back. If it weren't for you, our lives would be a mess. You've saved us all in some way. Thank you." "I'm glad I came back," Chris said, beginning to draw the Triquetra on the wall. "It gave me a chance at a new future. I don't know what I'll be going back to, but it has to better than before. I really hope you and Mom are together in the future." "I hope so to." Leo gave Chris a hug, trying not to cry. "Now, which spell are we looking for?"
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige recited the spell to open the portal used to send Chris back. Chris gave each one a hug, and almost cried saying good-bye to Piper. "Come back if anything is wrong. I mean that," she told him. He gave Wyatt one last look and walked into the portal. Chris felt like he was being sucked into a vacuum. He twirled and spun until he ended up in the attic.
"Chris?" he heard a voice call.
"Mom?"
Piper was lying on the couch with Leo, content watching her boys sleep. Leo finished explaining about Gideon and his trip to the future. He was a little vague on details about the future, but she could tell by the tone of his voice it pained him to talk of it. It truly must be horrible, she thought to herself. She knew she died, but from the sound of it, Phoebe and her deaths were gruesome. Hopefully, the future has changed enough. "Piper, I want to talk to you. About us." Leo said. "I think I have a solution to the problems in the future. I want you to know I was thinking about this way before we found out Wyatt turned evil this young. Before Gideon tried to hurt Wyatt." Piper heard the anger in his voice at the mention of Gideon. His betrayal really hurt. "Leo, just spit it out." "I'm resigning my Eldership." "What? Can you do that, just stop being an Elder?" "I don't know. It's never been done. We'll find out soon." "But what happens then? Will they make you a Whitelighter again or a mortal?" "I don't know. It's possible they could make me mortal." "No, Leo, you can't do that. You can't become mortal. We die too many times in this house to have you become mortal too." "Piper, let me finish. They could make me mortal, but I think they will demote me to a Whitelighter. Gideon tried to kill both of our sons, and killing him was the only way to protect them. I can use the fact they didn't see Gideon as the one after Wyatt to help me stay a Whitelighter." "Leo, are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes, I am. Piper, you and the boys are the most important thing in my life. I think becoming a Whitelighter again will solve the problems we have in the future. I want to do this. For us and the boys." Leo finished talking and hugged Piper close to him. It had been a long time since he had been able to hold her. "I really hope we can still change the future. What if we can't?" "Leo, remember when Prue, Phoebe, and I went to the future to change Phoebe's premonition?" "Yes, but you weren't able to change it in the end." "Yes, we were. Phoebe didn't want to. She said she deserved it. That's not my point. My point is Phoebe is not going to be burned at the stake, Prue is dead, and you and I have two wonderful sons instead of a daughter. We also had a failed marriage, but we are starting to change that. The future isn't unwavering. We can still change it." "Where are Phoebe and Paige?" Leo asked, trying to get Piper off of the subject of the future. "Paige is out with a friend and Phoebe is out on a date with some guy. Trent, I think his name is." "Trent? Really?" Leo asked, remembering Phoebe's husband from the future. "Yes. Leo Wyatt, you know something, don't you? What is it?" Piper asked, curious. "Nothing." "Liar. What aren't you telling me? Is he the..." Leo kissed her to shut her up. Piper laid her head on Leo's chest, content. Her family was coming back together and everything would be back to normal. Well, as normal as it could get. She took one last look at her two sons, fast asleep, before she herself went to sleep.
"Piper, calm down. I'm sure he's just stuck in a meeting with The Elders, or something like that. Don't worry. He'll be here. Eventually," Paige said. She bent down to pick up Wyatt, who was playing on the floor with a toy. "I could always orb you back to the manor." "No, that's okay. Leo said he wanted to orb me home." At that moment, both Piper and Paige turned towards the swirling blue orbs that appeared, expecting Leo, but only saw Chris.
"Oh, it's just you," Paige said.
"Hello to you too, Paige," Chris replied, sounding hurt.
"Oh, honey, we didn't mean it like that," Piper said apologetically. "We were just expecting Leo, that's all."
"Leo? Why? Is something wrong? Wrong with..." he said with a pointed look at Piper's stomach. "What? No, you're fine. We were just waiting for Leo to orb me back to the manor."
"No! You can't!" Chris shouted.
"Why? Were you born up here?"
"No, but..."
Piper cut him off, "But nothing. Wyatt may have been born at the manor, but you are being born in a hospital. I don't care if you come out in swaddling orbs like Wyatt did, but you are being born in a hospital." Piper looked pleased after her little rant.
"Wyatt came out in orbs?!" Chris said, shocked.
"Another point for his inferiority complex," said Paige and Piper made a face at her.
"Anyway, back to the subject at hand. You need to stay here. For Wyatt's sake."
"Wyatt? Why?" Piper asked worriedly.
"Look, I didn't want to tell you this, but Wyatt was turned evil before I was born." Chris said. Paige's mouth dropped open and Piper fell heavily into a chair.
"Chris, how could you not tell us this? This is important," Piper said.
"Well, I didn't want to worry you. I know you had toxemia from stress when you were pregnant with Wyatt, and I didn't want to go through that again." Paige opened her mouth to say something but Chris held up his hand. "When Wyatt became the spawn of evil..." Piper cut him off.
"Chris! Wyatt is not the spawn of evil! He is..."
"The son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter, who happened to turn evil. Yeah, Yeah, I know."
"How did you know I was going to say that?"
"You say it all the time in the future. Any way, back to Wyatt when became...evil. He was kidnapped by a demon a day or two before I was born. The demon planted the seed of evil in him before you and Phoebe could get him back. You and Phoebe tried to turn him back, but without the power of three, because Paige was dead, it didn't work. Everything was alright for a while, but as Wyatt got older, the evil became more apparent. I saw him meeting with demons, but you and Leo wouldn't believe me. Only Phoebe believed me, but you wouldn't listen to her either. Not until it was too late," Chris said sadly.
"Chris, the future may have changed now that Paige is still alive. You should have told us this from the beginning. We could have taken extra steps to protect Wyatt."
"I wanted to tell you but I couldn't. Not because I was afraid of changing the future too much, but because it hurt to talk about it." There were now tears forming in the corners of Chris' eyes. "I never wanted to tell you about the future. Not about Wyatt turning evil, not about Leo and I not getting along," At that moment Leo orbed in, unseen by the others. "And I certainly didn't want you to find out about your death."
Piper noticed Leo, and the pained expression on his face. "Leo," she said and tried to touch his arm, but he pulled out of her grasp. He just stared at her with the same pained expression on his face. "Let's go somewhere to talk." Piper suggested and took Leo's hand.
"But what about Wyatt?" Chris asked.
"Wyatt will stay here. You two keep an eye on him." She said and Leo orbs them both out.
"Well, I think he took that pretty well," Paige says. Chris gives her a look and she tells him, "You look just like your mother when you do that."
Gideon is talking to three tall, dark cloaked figures. "I need you three to get the pregnant witch, Piper. Make her and her sisters think you are demons. Since you're good witches, her freezing power won't work on you. Just use your power of deflection, cloning, and telekinesis to protect yourselves from the witches' other powers. I have a darklighter ready for her son, Chris. I will supply you with potions to use on Leo and the other two sisters. That should create enough of a distraction for me to get to Wyatt. Now remember, do not hurt the Charmed Ones. If necessary, only hurt Piper slightly to have Leo and her sisters come to her aid."
"Yes, master," one student replied. "But do you plan on killing both her sons?"
"Only if necessary. My main concern is what is best for the greater good, which can only be protected by the death of Wyatt."
Leo orbed Piper into the kitchen in the manor and both sat down. After a few moments, Leo broke the awkward silence. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I figured you would react like this. Besides that's not the most important thing, right now we need to..."
"What do you mean, not important? Piper, how could your death not be important enough to tell me? You are leaving..."
Before Leo could get any farther in his rant, Piper cut him off, "First of all, I don't die for another fourteen years, and second of all, we have bigger problems." Piper went on to explain the situation with Wyatt turning evil.
When she was done, Leo stood up. "I am going to kill him."
"Who? The demon? We don't even know who it is."
"No, Chris." He says and orbs out just as Paige orbs in.
"How did he take it?" Paige asks.
"I don't know. He orbed out threatening to kill Chris. Do me a favor and tell Chris Leo is after him. Will you stay with Wyatt?"
"Yeah. See you later." and she orbs out.
Leo orbed into Magic School and headed towards Chris, who was playing a game with Wyatt. Upon seeing Leo's infuriated look, Chris hurriedly orbed out, and Leo followed. Paige orbs in a few seconds later to see Wyatt sitting on the floor alone. "I take it your father found your brother."
Leo caught Chris in mid-orb in a deserted alley and roughly pinned him against a wall. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Let go of me!"
"Not until you tell me everything."
"Well, we're going to be here for a while, because I'm not telling you anything."
Leo let go of him. "Chris, I get I'm a crappy father in the future, but can we just forget about that for the present? Right now we need to concentrate on saving Wyatt and Piper. There is no way in heaven or hell I am losing either of them. I'm saving both or going to die trying."
"Okay, you're right. What do we do now?"
"You need to tell me everything you know about Wyatt turning evil and Piper's death. I wish there was a way you could show me, so I could see for myself."
"Leo, that may be the single, most genius thing you have ever said," Chris said, sounding excited.
"Really? Just, exactly what did I say?"
"The memory reliving spell! Why didn't I think of it before? Meet me at P3 in five minutes." Chris said and orbed out.
"Yeah. Totally understood every word that kid just said," Leo said, confused.
When Leo arrived at P3 five minutes later, Chris was already waiting for him, inside a circle of lit candles and a piece of paper in his hand. "Come on, hurry up. "
"Chris, what are you doing?"
"I am going to cast a spell so we can see my memories. We will see what I saw, and what I might have missed, like if I turned my back, or was unconscious. It may help us to find out who turned Wyatt and maybe find a way to save Mom."
"Chris, we are talking about major personal gain consequences."
"I know, but it's the only way," Chris said and Leo nodded his head. "Take my hand, Leo." Leo took his hand, and Chris recited:
"To remember what has past
This spell has been cast
For us to see
What happened to me."
Chris burned the piece of paper the spell was written on, and in a swirl of bright, white lights, Chris and Leo's conciseness were swept away.
When Chris and Leo became aware again, they were standing in the manor, in the living room, which looked almost the same as before the spell was cast, except for different pictures around. Almost all of the pictures included two boys, whom Leo guessed were Wyatt and Chris. There were pictures of the two as infants and as they grew older. Leave it to Piper to take all those pictures, Leo thought. There was one picture in particular that pulled at Leo's heart. There was a picture of a man, woman, and two boys, around the age of four, none of whom looked happy. What happened to our family, Piper? Leo asked himself. How could we let this happen?
Leo was ripped out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He saw Piper, looking just as beautiful as ever. She was walking right towards Leo, but walked right through him. A weird look crossed her face, and she looked around.
"Why didn't she see me?"
"These are my memories, things that already happened. Things you can't change. Unfortunately." Chris said sadly.
Leo turned his attention back to Piper, who was talking to Chris. "Happy birthday, honey." Piper said and kissed the top of his silky head.
"Where's Daddy?" little Chris asked.
"I'm sure he's in a meeting with The Elders. Don't worry. He'll be here." She began to walk away and whispered, "I'll make sure of it."
Leo had the sinking feeling he was about to get yelled at. Piper walked into the dining room, calling quietly for Leo, so Chris couldn't hear. "Leo. Leo. Get down here now!"
Leo orbed in, looking serene. "What is the problem?" he asked in a high-and-mighty Elder tone.
"Leo, drop the Elder crap. Do you know what day it is?"
"You called me down here to ask the date?" Leo replied, dropping his Elder tone.
"No! It is your son's birthday! You need to go into the living room and spend some time with him. Wyatt's not the only son who needs you. Chris does too."
"Piper, I was in a very important meeting with The Elders. You can't..."
"Leo, just shut up! You know I don't give a damn about the Elders. Today is your son's birthday. You have the rest of your immortal life to sit on your ass and meditate. Right now you are going to spend some time with your son." Piper said angrily.
"Piper..."
"I didn't call you down here to argue. Now go see your son." Leo walked into the living room and Piper shook her head at his back.
After hearing little Chris happily scream, "Daddy," Chris and Leo were surrounded in the swirl of bright, white lights, and the memory was over.
The present Piper was in the kitchen making herself something to eat when she heard a noise from the dining room. "Leo? Chris?" she called, not expecting anyone. "Paige? Phoebe?" When there was no answer, she slowly made her way to dinning room, hands out and ready to freeze or blow up anyone who was in the room. When a dark, cloaked figure walked into the kitchen, Piper screamed and tried to freeze him. It didn't work. Now Piper was really scared. Why wouldn't this demon freeze? "Who are you?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"A demon," a deep voice replied.
"No shit," she said, and gestured to blow him up, but he deflected it and it rebounded, hitting the kitchen counter. "Oh shit." She began to back up from the demon. "Leo! Chris!" There was no reassuring sound of their orbing. "Help me!" The demon grabbed her from behind, and two other demons appeared. Now Piper's fear was mixing with anger. I will not be in the hands of demons when I go into labor this time. I am going to have a normal pregnancy and birth, she promised herself. She may not be able to rely upon her powers with these demons, but this wouldn't be the first time. She began to struggle against her captors, trying to knock stuff over in hopes of getting her hands on a useable weapon. She kicked the captor behind her hard, forcing him to release her. She lunged for the knife in front of her, but it telekinetically flew away from her. Every time she tried to get her hands on a weapon, the demon to her right caused them to fly away.
"Be a good little witch and we won't have to hurt you or the baby," one demon said, after flinging the fifth knife out of Piper's hands. He then threw a vial full of a light purple liquid at Piper, and she hit the floor unconscious. The demons grabbed her and were orbed out by an invisible Gideon.
Meanwhile, Leo and Chris were in a new memory, one that seemed to have Chris terrified. Every time Leo tried to ask him a question, Chris would tell him to be quite and get a panicked look on his face. Leo contented himself with looking at pictures, some which were the same, others had two older children. Leo saw no pictures of another man, but none of him either. It looked as if Piper wasn't involved with another man, which relieved him, but it didn't look any better for his and Piper's relationship either. Leo was about to question Chris about Piper's relationship with any man, but he was cut off by the sound of approaching footsteps. Leo turned to face the stairs and saw a younger Chris, around the age fourteen, coming down the stairs. He just reached the landing when Wyatt suddenly orbed in front of him, followed by three demons.
"So, Chris, have you decided to embrace your evil side, or die defying it?" future Wyatt said, forming an energy ball in his hand and extinguishing it.
"Wyatt, you won't kill me," Chris said, the fear creeping into his voice.
"Are you will to bet your life on that? Power or death, little brother. Chose."
"I'm not like you Wyatt. I'll always be good."
"Then you have chosen death," Wyatt said, forming an energy ball in his hand. "I am sorry Chris."
"Wyatt, NO!" Piper yelled, running in from the kitchen. Wyatt paid no attention to her and released the energy ball. What no one realized was that Piper kept running; pushing Chris up the stairs, out of the path of the energy ball. Instead, she ended up in the direct path of the energy ball, hitting her squarely in the back. She fell limply to the floor. Wyatt was looking at his hands as if he had never seen them before.
"Piper!" present Leo yelled as Piper's limp body hit the floor. He tried to go to her, but Chris held him back, tears streaming down his face.
"You can't help her now. She's already gone." Leo stopped struggling and began to cry. Leo hugged Chris tightly and watched as an identical looking Leo orb in, his back to Piper and Chris' limp forms, facing Wyatt.
"Wyatt, where's Piper?" future Leo asked, but received no reply from Wyatt. Wyatt was still looking at his hands as if they weren't his. After a few seconds of looking at Wyatt in confusion, future Leo turned and saw Piper's body on the stair landing. "Piper!" he screamed and rushed to her side to heal her. "Wyatt, what happened?" Instead of answering, Wyatt orbed out. "Come on Piper. Pull through, come on." Leo kept talking to her, trying to heal her. After what seemed to be eternity, Leo fell back on his heels, tears streaming down his face. Piper still wasn't moving. "Piper, I'm so sorry." He said, gathering her limp body into his arms. "I promise I'll save Wyatt. I promise," he said to her as he rocked her in his arms. After a few minutes holding Piper's dead body, he gently laid her down, kissed her forehead one last time and orbed out.
Present Leo was trying not to break down. Wyatt killed Piper. Their little boy was the one who killed Piper. The thought made Leo sick to his stomach, but he was more disgusted with himself. He had left Chris unconscious on the stairs, not bothering to check on him.
"I just left you there, no help whatsoever?" Leo asked in a quiet voice.
"Yeah."
"Now I see why you hate me. I left you alone, unconscious, vulnerable to a demon attack."
"Yeah, you did. Just wait. You're not up for the father of the year award yet." Chris replied, anger rising into his voice. Both stood there, not talking to each other, watching as the minutes ticked by.
"Why didn't she freeze him or the demons? If he were truly evil..."
"Freezing didn't work on Wyatt. He found a way to become immune to it. It might have been because Piper used her powers so much when she was pregnant with him. We were never able to find out why he didn't freeze." Suddenly, they heard the front door opening and saw an older Phoebe walk in. "Piper?" Phoebe called out, carrying a heavy bag. "Piper, I brought the..." He voice trailed off as she saw Piper and Chris' limp forms on the stairway. He ran to Chris first, checked his pulse, and heaved a sigh of relief. She moved on to Piper, and a look of fear crossed her face when she didn't feel a pulse. "Leo! Leo!" she called out, beginning CPR on Piper. "Come on damnit, Piper, breath. Leo!" Leo orbed in, eyes red-rimmed from crying. "Piper's not breathing. Heal her, then Chris!" When Leo just stood there, she asked, "What are you waiting for? Heal her!" "I can't. She's already gone. I tried to heal her earlier. She wasn't moving, she was so still. I couldn't..." Leo broke into tears. "No, she can't be dead. No way." Phoebe said, backing up the stairs towards Chris, away from Leo. "What about Chris? I felt his pulse. He's alive." "Chris? He's here?" "He's right there. You mean to tell me a demon came here, murdered Piper, and you leave you son alone to die?! God, what is wrong with you?!" Phoebe yelled, becoming hysterical. "I didn't know he was here!" Leo said, hurrying to heal Chris. "I orbed here and all I saw was Piper... dead. Some demons kidnapped Wyatt and I had to go get him." Then Leo added softly, "I promised Piper." "Damnit, Leo! When are you going to come out of your denial? Piper did. You know damn well Wyatt probably kidnapped the demons. Not the other way around. Leo, you know I would have done anything to save Wyatt, but now, especially without the power of three, I don't think I can. You need to let go, for Chris' sake. Piper would want you to." Chris was now healed and struggling to sit up. Phoebe tried to block his view of his mother. "Wyatt! Did he hurt Mom? Me? Where is he? What happened?" The hysteria in Chris' voice rose with every question. "Why would Wyatt hurt Mom?" Leo asked. "He was going to hurt me. I heard mom yell at him. She ran to me and pushed me out of the way. Then everything went black. Is Mom alright? Why are you crying Aunt Phoebe?" "Oh, Chris..." Phoebe moved aside so he could see Piper. She struggled to hold him back as he began to screaming and crying, trying to get to Piper's body. "Mom!" he yelled. Phoebe forced him into a hug and he broke down on her shoulder, and she on his. He cried like that for fifteen minutes, until he finally worked his way out of Phoebe's hug and down to Piper's body. He gently took her hand and let the tears roll off his face onto her hand. Leo came and put a hand on his shoulder. "I need you to tell me about the demons who took Wyatt." Chris didn't answer. He shook himself out of Leo hold and ran out of the manor. "Nice touch, Leo! Grill the kid about the demon five minutes after he finds out his mother is dead. Great, Leo. Worry about Wyatt who is safe with the demons rather than your son who needs you now." Phoebe angrily gathered her coat and walked outside to find Chris sitting on the swing outside. She sat next to him, gathered him in a hug, and let him cry, whispering in his ear. Leo orbed out, unnoticed by the two. Chris and Leo were once again gathered into the swirling white lights a taken away.
Paige was pacing in the library of Magic School, just like Piper had been earlier. She was worried about Piper and Phoebe. Piper was pregnant and expected to go into labor at any time, and Phoebe had no active powers. A demon attack would be deadly now, especially since she was sitting up here in magic school.
Gideon walked in, seeing Paige pacing with a worried look on her face. "Why, Paige, what is the matter?"
"I'm worried about Piper and Phoebe. Piper's pregnant, Phoebe has no active powers, and a demon attack is likely to happen soon! How do you think I feel?" Paige said, letting her frustration out on Gideon. "Sorry, didn't mean to take it out on you."
"That's quite alright. This must be a very stressful time for you," Gideon said, faking sincerity.
Paige bought it. "Yeah it is." She went on to tell Gideon about Wyatt turning evil soon.
"Oh, dear. This is quite serious. Why didn't Chris mention this before?" "I don't know. What should I do? About Piper and Phoebe, I mean."
"Go get Phoebe and stay with Piper. She needs you right now. That will be the best way to fend off a demon attack."
"Alright. I'll get Phoebe and one of us will stay with Piper while the other stays up here with Wyatt."
"No. Both of you stay with Piper. The Power of Three may be needed to vanquish any demons. I'll watch Wyatt. He'll be in good hands."
"I don't know. Piper will kill me if I leave Wyatt."
"Explain to her the Power of Three might be needed and that I am with Wyatt."
"Okay. Thanks. Bye-bye Wyatt." She gave him to Gideon and orbed out.
Wyatt's force field went up immediately. "I'll find a way through. I always do." He ignored the shock that coursed through his body as he touched the force field and orbed out holding Wyatt.
Paige orbed to Phoebe's office, sensing beforehand to make sure she was alone. She orbed in and Phoebe screamed when she saw Paige. "Don't ever scare a woman on a deadline," Phoebe warned.
"We kind of have a situation."
"Paige, either we do or we don't. Spit it out." Once Paige was done explaining everything that happened, Phoebe said, "Oh my God. We have to get home NOW. What if the demon has already attacked?"
"But Wyatt's safe at Magic School. The demon can't get him there."
"No, but the demon can get Piper." Paige hurriedly grabbed Phoebe's hand and orbed out.
They arrived at the manor only to find it empty.
"Piper? Piper, are you home?" There was no answer. "You check down stairs, I'll check upstairs," Phoebe commanded. Paige wondered into the kitchen, looking for anything that might give a clue to where Piper was. When she wandered into the kitchen, she began to yell for Phoebe. "What? Phoebe asked, running in from upstairs. "What did...Oh my God." She said, seeing the mess in the kitchen. Bowls, plates, and knives were skewed all around the kitchen. Not to mention the big hole on the counter.
"Leo! Chris! Damnit, where are you?!" Paige called, receive no
answer. "Okay. We have to assume what ever got Piper, got Leo and Chris too. Go make some basic potions. Exploding, freezing, fogging, slowing down potions... I don't care. Any defensive potions you can make, make. I'm going to scry for Piper. Alright. Let's get to work." Phoebe commanded, heading towards the attic while Paige went to the kitchen.
Leo cried throughout the next memory. They were outside, the sky gray and overcast. People were gathered around the casket, listening to a Wiccan woman speak of Piper's life. Phoebe sat in the front row, holding Chris' hand in her right, and two little girl's hands in her left. To the little girl's left was a man, and next to him sat Darryl Morris and his wife, Shelia. To Chris' right was Victor, Piper and Phoebe's father. Leo saw himself standing perfectly straight, hands behind his back in a corner of the crowd. There were tears streaming down his face onto his black robes, but he paid no attention to them. One person no seemed to notice was Wyatt, standing in the very back of the crowd. As always, he was closely followed by a fellow demon. Phoebe looked as if she would collapse if she tried to stand. Both she and Chris could barely see through their tears.
The Wiccan woman finished her speech and blew out three of the four candles by her. One by one, the crowd slowly proceeded by Piper's casket, paying their final respects. Darryl was the last of the guest to leave, placing a white rose on Piper's casket. After a while, only Chris, Phoebe, the two little girls, the man, and Leo were left. Leo touched Piper's casket one more time and quickly began to walk away.
"Dad! Wait up!" Chris called, but Leo kept walking. "I need to talk to you! Wait for me!" Leo didn't listen he kept walking away, and finally orbed away into the sky.
Phoebe caught up with Chris, taking his hand as Leo orbed away. "Come on honey. Your dad's busy," Phoebe said, throwing a dirty look into the area Leo orbed away in. Let's go home."
"He didn't want to talk to me, did he?" Chris said, now crying harder than he had during the funeral.
"I'm afraid not." Phoebe tried to calm the young boy down. "I'll take care of you now. I won't let Wyatt get to you. Now," she said drying his tears, "let's go home." Phoebe and Chris walked back to the man standing next to the two little girls and the five walked one final time past Piper's grave and to the car.
The present Leo and Chris watched the five make their way to a black SUV. Present Leo went to Piper's casket and tried to place a hand on it, watching it go right through. He looked to the grave next to Piper's and saw a headstone that made him gasp. Paige Mathews, beloved sister and friend, it read. Piper had chosen to be buried next to Paige. The though made him smile. Piper was much closer to Paige than she would ever admit. She had chosen not to be buried next to the sister she had grown up with, but the sister she had only known for two years.
Leo felt Chris move behind him, and turned to see him wiping his eyes. "I really didn't want to have to see this again. None of it. It was bad enough to live it once, but to watch it again, it's torture. I keep feeling I like I can change it, but what if I can't? What if I go back to the future to find Mom dead and Wyatt still evil? I don't think I can take it."
"I think I have a solution for that. Don't ask now. Wyatt should be our main concern. We need to get out of here soon, don't you think?"
"We will, as soon as we have learned what we need to. That's how all the spells work."
"Alright. Who were those people with Phoebe?"
"Oh!" Chris said, looking happier. "That's Uncle Trent, Phoebe's husband, and their twins, Prue and Paige. They're really great kids." Chris suddenly began to sound sad. "Too bad they didn't make it."
"Didn't make it? What are you talking about?"
Leo and Chris were beginning to be consumed by the swirling white lights. "I think you're about to find out."
Piper was tied up, gagged, and blindfolded, lying on the cold, hard floor. She tried struggling to get away, but it was no use. The ropes around her legs and arms were too tight. She laid there, thinking about what they might do to her. Was this just another attack on the Charmed Ones? Were these the demons after Wyatt? Her next thought made cold fear wash over her. Did they want Chris? Demons had tried to kidnap Wyatt when he was born, so it was entirely possible they were after Chris. Since her powers did not work on them and Leo or Chris weren't answering her calls, she had no way to protect herself. Paige was in magic school and would probably stay, and Phoebe wasn't expected home for a few hours. No one would notice her missing until it was too late. As these thoughts went through her head, Piper began to panic.
Her water just broke.
The next memory took them to a dark penthouse, one Leo didn't recognize. Leo could vaguely make out a figure standing in the living room, talking to someone.
"Damnit, Leo!" Leo recognized Phoebe's voice. "I will not let you. He's under my care now. He has no mother and a father who doesn't seem to realize he has another son."
"Phoebe," Leo recognized his own voice, "this could be our only chance to save Wyatt!"
Present Leo heard a door creak behind him and saw Chris' face peering out of the partially open door. Little Prue and Paige joined him.
"I am not letting you endanger Chris or my family. Wyatt doesn't want to talk to Chris; he wants to kill him! We have already seen he will stop at nothing to get him. He killed his own mother for goodness sakes!"
"Wyatt did not kill Piper! It was an accident!"
"You keep telling yourself that, Leo. My answers still no." Leo orbed out.
Phoebe turned around to see Chris looking out of the doorway. "Oh, honey. I didn't want you to hear that. Your dad wanted you to help save Wyatt from..."
"From what, Aunt Phoebe?" Wyatt's cold voice asked from behind. He was closely followed by three demons.
Phoebe prepared to fight Wyatt, Chris and the girls came out of the bedroom, and Trent woke up to come and investigate the loud voices. "Chris, orb all of them out of here." Phoebe commanded. "Now!" she yelled when he didn't respond. Chris attempted to orb them out, but the girls kept yanking out of his grasp.
"Bad Wyatt!" the eight-year-old Pure yelled, attempting to telekinetically hurl him across the room, but it had little effect; Wyatt just stumbled backwards a little. Wyatt threw an energy ball at her, and Chris was only able to orb Paige and Trent out of the way.
"Prue!" Phoebe yelled, trying to channel the emotions around her to throw back at Wyatt. She couldn't concentrate, not with her own emotions running so high. "Leo!" Leo did not answer.
Chris orbed back in with Paige and Trent, intent on saving Phoebe, and Paige tried to freeze Wyatt, but it had no effect. Wyatt hurled energy balls at Trent, Paige, and Chris, hitting Trent and Paige, but missing Chris.
"No!" Phoebe yelled, finally getting enough of a grip on her emotions to hurl a streak of fire at Wyatt, who orbed out, narrowly missing the stream. Leo orbed in just then. He saw Trent and the girls on the floor and attempted to heal them, with no success.
"I'm sorry," Leo said.
"No!" Phoebe howled, breaking down over Prue's body.
Wyatt orbed in. "It's a shame. They didn't have to die if Chris would come quietly. Come now and Phoebe lives."
Chris motioned to move towards Wyatt, but Phoebe stood up. "No. I will get you back for what you've done." She closed her eyes and tried to channel all the emotion she could. She hurled it at Wyatt, who once again orbed out.
"Bad idea," Wyatt said, orbing in behind her. "Excalibur!" he called and the sword orbed in to his hand. Wyatt grabbed Phoebe and stabbed her from behind. She dropped to the floor, dead.
"Noooooooo!" young Chris screamed, seeing Phoebe's spirit rise out of her body. Phoebe's sprit was suddenly joined by three others, Prue, Paige, and Piper. They quickly joined hands, creating a circle around Chris. Wyatt threw energy balls at Chris, but they rebounded off of the protective circle the Charmed Ones created.
Piper spoke to Chris, "Chris, repeat the spell after us,"
"Ancestors of the Halliwell line," began Prue.
"Rise up to protect what is mine," Piper said.
"For around me evil shall not dwell," Phoebe continued.
"This evil cannot have this Halliwell." finished Paige.
A beam of white light hit Chris, and he began to repeat the spell. When he finished, another wave of white light washed through his body. "Wyatt, you cannot hurt Chris now. He is under the protection of the Charmed Ones, and dead or alive, that protection will hold," Phoebe said. "Wyatt, please, for me, don't try to hurt him. Let him live his own life and you will live yours." Piper said. With one last smile at her children, the Piper, Prue, Phoebe, and Paige disappeared. Present Chris and Leo saw Wyatt orb out, leaving Chris alone. Then they we suddenly enveloped in the white lights and the spell was broken.
Leo and Chris returned to reality in time to hear Paige's cries for help. "Something must have happened while we were gone," Leo said.
"Wyatt..." Chris said, and both orbed to the manor.
"They orbed in the kitchen to find Paige mixing a potion.
"What happened? What... the hell happened in here?" Leo said, getting a good look of the kitchen, including the big hole in the counter. "Is Wyatt alright? Piper?"
"Wyatt is fine, and we don't know about Piper."
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Chris asked.
"I mean I don't know. Phoebe and I came home to this mess, couldn't find Piper, and called for you. That reminds me...WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" At Paige's yelling, Phoebe came downstairs with the map and crystal.
"That's a good question. Where have you been?" Phoebe asked.
"The future," Leo said.
"The past," Chris said at the same time.
"Okay... it's either one or the other. So which one was it?"
"Chris' past, our future." Leo explained.
"So, you to have been skipping around time, we have been trying to find our sister, whom it seems has been kidnapped by a demon. Now, would you like to help us find her?" Phoebe said angrily. "What can we do?" Chris asked. "Make potions. Do something, anything but sit there. I'm going to scry for Piper. You better hope we find her or I'll kick both of your asses, even with out my powers. Now move!" Chris and Leo scattered to find something useful to do and Phoebe began to scry. "I've never seen two people be more motivated. Nice touch." Paige commented. "Found her!" Phoebe and Leo said in unison. "In some abandoned warehouses," they said together again. "Okay. That's just annoying." Paige said and Chris walked in. "I'll drive," Phoebe said and headed for the door. "Um, Phoebe. We're orbing." "But I can't orb." "I know. That's while one of us will orb you." Paige said grabbing potions and distributing them while telling what each was. "Explosion...freezing...sleeping..." "Nice one." Phoebe said. "Let's go already!" Chris yelled, grabbing Phoebe's hand and following Leo's orbs. Paige was close behind. When they arrived at the warehouse, they saw Piper lying on the floor, bound and gagged. As Chris took a step towards Piper, two darklighters appeared, crossbows ready to shoot. They fired their arrows, hitting Leo in the stomach and Chris in the shoulder. Paige orbed out with Phoebe just in time to avoid being hit. The darklighters black orbed out. Paige orbed back in when the coast was clear. Phoebe went to Leo and Chris while Paige carefully made her way to Piper. When she was about ten yards away, three cloaked demons appeared, forming a barrier between her and Piper.
"You are standing between me and my sister. That's not a smart idea." She hurled a potion at the first demon, but he deflected it. Paige just stared, amazed. She reached for another potion, but was telekinetically hurled across the room. She made a hard landing on the floor next to Chris. "Phoebe," she called. "I can't take them. We'll have to come back for Piper." She grabbed Leo, Chris, and Phoebe and orbed them out.
When they were back at the manor, Phoebe and Paige moved Leo to the couch and Chris to the floor. "Alright," Phoebe said taking charge, "the first thing we have to do is get the arrows out. Then Paige will assist in healing. Leo, we'll get yours first. You're worse off than Chris. Then..."
Leo cut her off. "No. Heal Chris first."
"Dad, no..."
"Yes. Heal Chris, than me."
Phoebe, looking confused, shifted to pull the darklighter arrow out of Chris when Paige stopped her. "No let me do it."
"Paige, you're a Whitelighter too," Phoebe reminded her.
"I know but I'll orb the arrows out of them and orb them across the room before they materialize." Paige didn't wait for Phoebe's consent. "Darklighter arrows!" She sent them flying across the room.
"Good job. Now heal Chris first." Phoebe said. Paige grabbed Leo's hand and let his magic flow through her to heal Chris. After that was done, both Chris and Paige assisted in healing Leo.
When both were healed, Phoebe explained about the demons, how their powers prevented her from reaching Piper. "We need a plan. We know there are three demons; one has the power of telekinesis, one with deflection, and the other we don't know. We need to find a way past them. Not to mention the darklighters. I'm the only one who can't be hurt by their arrows, but I'm also the one without active powers," Phoebe said, trying to clarify the situation.
"Is it just me, or do those sound like Wiccan powers?" Paige asked.
"They do, but telekinesis is a common power among demons. Deflection could have been stolen from a witch. God knows it wouldn't be the first time," Phoebe explained.
"I have an idea," Chris announced. "Leo and I will orb in to distract the darklighters, while Paige and Phoebe deal with the demons. Phoebe could fight with potions and her martial arts and Paige will orb Piper out."
"Good idea, except for the deflection part."
"Well, we'll just have to surprise that demon. Get him from behind."
"We don't know what the other demon is capable of."
"Alright, let's just wing it. We have to get Piper out. I'm supposed to be born soon."
Paige grabbed some extra potions and orbed Phoebe to the warehouse. Immediately they were met by the same two darklighters. "Didn't we kill you?" one of them asked, firing arrows at the three Whitelighters.
"Darklighter arrows!" Paige called, forcing the arrows to hit their owners. The darklighters flamed up and disappeared. Then the three demons appeared.
"I like our odds. Four against three. I'll take the demon to the right. Chris, the middle one, and Leo, the left one. Paige, just get Piper out of here,' Phoebe whispered to them. "On the count of three. One...two...three!" They began to attack to demons. Paige tried to make it to Piper, but one demon telekinetically hurled Paige against a wall, knocking her out. Phoebe was fighting one demon when suddenly it became two. "Oh no." She kicked at one demon, but her foot sailed clean through him. "This demon can clone!" she cried out. She felt the demon reach for her and she flipped him over her head. He landed on his back with a grunt. Phoebe looked around to see how the others were doing. She saw Paige moaning on the floor and Chris being hurled across the room. Leo was still fighting the demon of deflection. The telekinetic demon hurled Leo across the room, freeing the deflection demon to come after her. The demon with telekinesis began to head for Piper. "Piper! He's headed for you!" She tried to reach Piper, but the defelction demon sent a punch flying her way. As she blocked the punch and returned the punch, she saw an amazing sight.
Piper orbed out. Piper, who was lying tied up on the floor, orbed out by herself.
Phoebe was so shocked, she was just staring at the spot Piper had been in only a second ago. A punch to the stomach by a demon sent her back to reality. She quickly sent a series of punches towards the demon, finishing him off with a roundhouse kick. Paige and Leo were now up against telekinetic demon, using their own powers to telekinetically hurl things at him. Phoebe ran to Chris, grabbing his arm. "Orb me to manor and come back here to help," Phoebe said, finally understanding where Piper was and how she got there. Chris orbed her to the manor, not leaving enough time for himself to materialize.
"Piper!" Phoebe called, racing through the manor to find her. She finally found her in her bedroom, lying on the bed still bound and gagged. Phoebe quickly united her to find Piper crying. "You're safe now, honey. Don't worry." Piper screamed and clenched her stomach.
"Phoebe, I'm in labor."
Gideon was preparing a potion and spell to use to disarm Wyatt's force field. He had the knife ready to use once the force field was broken through. Once stabbed with this knife, the boy wouldn't live unless he himself chose to heal him. Leo's powers would be strong enough. "Only a few more minutes. A few more minutes, my boy, and the world will be safe from you. I will make sure of that." Gideon returned to his spell and potion.
Leo and Paige were simultaneously fighting the telekinetic demon when Piper orbed out. Paige was so surprised; she let her guard down, letting the demon hurl her across the room again. This time, she orbed out before she hit the wall. "Leo, did you orb Piper out?" she asked, avoiding being hit by a flying crate.
"No. I sense her at the manor. Paige, look out!" he called, seeing another box flying towards Paige. She ducked just in time. Chris orbed in behind the demon and sent him flying into the far wall. The demon, like the other two, was slumped unconscious on the floor. Leo strode over to the demon and removed the hood.
"Oh my God! That's one of the students from Magic School!" Paige said, shocked at seeing the young girl underneath the hood. They checked the other two and recognized them both from Magic School also. "I don't understand. Why would students from Magic School want to kidnap Piper?"
"They wouldn't unless they were doing it for someone else," Leo commented.
Chris looked at Leo. "Wyatt," they said in unison. Both orbed out, leaving Paige to follow.
"Okay, Piper, just breathe. We're going to get you to the hospital. Let me get your suitcase, and we'll head to the car."
"No." Piper said, wincing in pain at another contraction.
"Five minutes apart. No what?"
"We can't go to a hospital. Little Chris orbed me out of that warehouse. He has powers from the womb. What if he comes out in orbs? We can't afford to be exposed."
"Are you sure you want to have him at home? I've still got the birthing kit from when Wyatt was born. But we can go to the hospital and deal with the exposure threat later."
"We can't go to the hospital. I won't let magic be exposed. Go get your kit and hurry," she said wincing at another contraction.
"Okay. I'll call for Leo and Paige."
"No. They need to deal with the demon. I can't let a demon get to either of my boys."
"Just relax and breathe. I'll be right back."
"Easy for you to say," Piper said as Phoebe walked out of the room walked out of the room.
Leo, Chris, and Paige orbed into the library of Magic School, only to find it empty. "Gideon!" Leo called out and was not answered.
"Why wouldn't Gideon be here? He said he would stay here with Wyatt," Paige told him.
"Unless Gideon is with Wyatt, somewhere else," Chris speculated. "What if Gideon is after Wyatt?"
"Why would an Elder want to turn someone as powerful as Wyatt evil?" Paige asked.
Leo's eyes were closed. When he opened them he said, "I think Chris has a point. I can't sense Wyatt anywhere 'up here' or 'down there'. Gideon has been kind of different since we found out Wyatt becomes evil. What if he decided to take matters into his own hands?"
"We have to find him. If you can't sense them, they must be in the underworld," Chris said.
"I think you're right," Leo said and orbed out, followed by the others.
They sensed for Wyatt once they were in the underworld. When they finally got to Wyatt, Gideon was reciting a spell, athame in hand, ready to stab Wyatt. Chris quickly moved into action by telekinetically throwing Gideon across the room. Gideon, caught off guard, quickly got to his feet.
"It's too late. You're too late," he said and began to finish the spell, athame ready.
"Athame!" Paige called, orbing the athame to her. Gideon stopped reciting the spell and telekinetically took the athame back.
"You won't do that again," he said, throwing her across the room with a wave of his hand. Leo ran to heal her. He finished his spell and Wyatt's force field went down. He began towards Wyatt with the athame as Chris attempted to throw Gideon across the room again. It didn't work.
"There's something wrong with my powers! I can't do anything!" He ran towards Gideon and tackled him inches before he got Wyatt. Gideon was attempting to stab Chris when Leo telekinetically swiped the athame out of his hand.
"You have tried to kill both of my sons more than once today. Give up now, or I will be forced to hurt you."
"Leo, you are an Elder, you can't hurt me."
"Just watch me." "Leo, you know as well as I do that Wyatt should never have been allowed to be born. A son of a Charmed One and a Whitelighter. Too much power for one being. I will not let Wyatt live. He has to die." "Kill him, and I will kill you." "What about your other son?" Gideon began to choke Chris without using his hands. It was some kind of telekinetic power. Chris was struggling for breath, gasping at the invisible force pressing down on his windpipe. As soon as it began it ended. Leo had driven the athame meant for Wyatt into Gideon's stomach. He stared wide-eyed at Leo and died. Paige came and helped Chris to his feet. Chris said, "Leo, he had it coming. You were just protecting your sons. Both of them. Now we need to get home. I didn't have my powers. There might be someone waiting at home for us." Leo picked up Wyatt and held him close. The four of them orbed out.
"Push, Piper. Just one more push. Make it a big one," Phoebe coached over Piper's heavy breathing. "I'd like to see you try." Piper gave one last push and Phoebe lifted a blanket of swaddling orbs. "See, I told you he would come out in orbs," Piper said exhaustedly. Phoebe cut the umbilical cord and cleared his airways and he let out a loud wail. Phoebe then gently laid the little baby boy in Piper's arms. "Hey there, baby. He's beautiful, isn't he?" she asked Phoebe, adoringly. "Absolutely. So why is his name Chris?" Phoebe asked. "After Leo's father," Chris answered from the doorway. "Is it safe to come in?" "Yes. Would you like to see yourself?" Phoebe asked him. Chris took a step closer to see and Leo sat on the bed next to Piper with Wyatt. "Did you get the demons?" Piper wanted to know. "In a way. Explanations later," Paige told her. Chris finished looking at himself and beckoned to Paige to follow him out of the room. "Wyatt, want to see your little brother?" Piper asked him and let Wyatt look at Chris. Leo happily looked at his two sons, safe and sound. Then he smiled at Piper, glade she was safe and with him. Upon seeing his look, Phoebe followed Paige and Chris out of the room, seeing Piper, Leo, and their kids needed sometime alone. She followed the other two to the attic. "We need to send me back to the future now. I can't be here with out my powers. It's not safe. I've been feeling my powers getting weaker and weaker as it came closer to my birthday. There were even times when I had no powers because the baby was using them. It's my time to back to the future and see if it is better." "Alright. We'll get everything ready now, and send you back tomorrow. It takes the power of three to send you back, and right now Piper needs to be with you. Little you, I mean," Paige said, looking confused. Leo came into the attic next. "Piper wants to see you, Paige and Phoebe." Paige and Phoebe headed downstairs as Chris was looking in the book for the spell to send him home. "It's time for me to go." "I know." Chris finally stopped at a page in the book. "Did you find the spell?" Leo asked. "No. I was just looking at the spell used to vanquish the source. In the future, after the Charmed Ones were gone, the spell began 'Prudence, Piper, Phoebe, Paige...' I really hope it isn't like that in the future." "Chris, I want to thank you for coming back. If it weren't for you, our lives would be a mess. You've saved us all in some way. Thank you." "I'm glad I came back," Chris said, beginning to draw the Triquetra on the wall. "It gave me a chance at a new future. I don't know what I'll be going back to, but it has to better than before. I really hope you and Mom are together in the future." "I hope so to." Leo gave Chris a hug, trying not to cry. "Now, which spell are we looking for?"
Piper, Phoebe, and Paige recited the spell to open the portal used to send Chris back. Chris gave each one a hug, and almost cried saying good-bye to Piper. "Come back if anything is wrong. I mean that," she told him. He gave Wyatt one last look and walked into the portal. Chris felt like he was being sucked into a vacuum. He twirled and spun until he ended up in the attic.
"Chris?" he heard a voice call.
"Mom?"
Piper was lying on the couch with Leo, content watching her boys sleep. Leo finished explaining about Gideon and his trip to the future. He was a little vague on details about the future, but she could tell by the tone of his voice it pained him to talk of it. It truly must be horrible, she thought to herself. She knew she died, but from the sound of it, Phoebe and her deaths were gruesome. Hopefully, the future has changed enough. "Piper, I want to talk to you. About us." Leo said. "I think I have a solution to the problems in the future. I want you to know I was thinking about this way before we found out Wyatt turned evil this young. Before Gideon tried to hurt Wyatt." Piper heard the anger in his voice at the mention of Gideon. His betrayal really hurt. "Leo, just spit it out." "I'm resigning my Eldership." "What? Can you do that, just stop being an Elder?" "I don't know. It's never been done. We'll find out soon." "But what happens then? Will they make you a Whitelighter again or a mortal?" "I don't know. It's possible they could make me mortal." "No, Leo, you can't do that. You can't become mortal. We die too many times in this house to have you become mortal too." "Piper, let me finish. They could make me mortal, but I think they will demote me to a Whitelighter. Gideon tried to kill both of our sons, and killing him was the only way to protect them. I can use the fact they didn't see Gideon as the one after Wyatt to help me stay a Whitelighter." "Leo, are you sure you want to do this?" "Yes, I am. Piper, you and the boys are the most important thing in my life. I think becoming a Whitelighter again will solve the problems we have in the future. I want to do this. For us and the boys." Leo finished talking and hugged Piper close to him. It had been a long time since he had been able to hold her. "I really hope we can still change the future. What if we can't?" "Leo, remember when Prue, Phoebe, and I went to the future to change Phoebe's premonition?" "Yes, but you weren't able to change it in the end." "Yes, we were. Phoebe didn't want to. She said she deserved it. That's not my point. My point is Phoebe is not going to be burned at the stake, Prue is dead, and you and I have two wonderful sons instead of a daughter. We also had a failed marriage, but we are starting to change that. The future isn't unwavering. We can still change it." "Where are Phoebe and Paige?" Leo asked, trying to get Piper off of the subject of the future. "Paige is out with a friend and Phoebe is out on a date with some guy. Trent, I think his name is." "Trent? Really?" Leo asked, remembering Phoebe's husband from the future. "Yes. Leo Wyatt, you know something, don't you? What is it?" Piper asked, curious. "Nothing." "Liar. What aren't you telling me? Is he the..." Leo kissed her to shut her up. Piper laid her head on Leo's chest, content. Her family was coming back together and everything would be back to normal. Well, as normal as it could get. She took one last look at her two sons, fast asleep, before she herself went to sleep.