I am not a fan of Charmed episodes where a spell goes wrong and the sisters regress in age, but I am so desperate to see an episode where Drew Fuller and Wes Ramsey appear together again, I would even consider a story where a spell goes wrong and ages Baby Chris and Baby Wyatt. With that idea, I decided to put pen to paper and write a lighter episode that does just that, hence the title "Any Excuse to Bring Back Big Chris and Big Wyatt"
ANY EXCUSE TO BRING BACK BIG CHRIS AND BIG WYATT
CHAPTER ONE
"Did you make the vanquishing potion?" Piper asked frantically as she placed Baby Wyatt and Baby Chris in the playpen in the corner of the Manor attic.
"The ingredients are listed here in The Book of Shadows," Phoebe said to Piper, "but it includes mature Burdock Root, not just normal Burdock Root, and we're all out."
"Damn, why does everything always have to include Burdock Root!" Piper exclaimed.
"Well, we've got to think of something fast, because if that Demon returns and we don't have a vanquishing potion….."
Before Paige could finish her sentence of doom, Phoebe cut in, "All we've got are these seeds, and unfortunately I don't think we can wait 22 years for the root to grow to full maturity." She said holding up a small white paper bag.
"Give me those." Paige said, an idea suddenly popping into her head.
"Why?" Phoebe asked as Paige snatched the paper bag filled with seeds from her hands.
"What do you have in mind Paige?" Piper also enquired.
"Simple. A spell to mature the seeds." She answered confidently
"How is that simple?" Phoebe asked. "We've never done that before, we don't even know if it will work."
"Of course it will work, I didn't spend nearly a year at Magic School for nothing." Paige said, trying to sound like she knew what she was doing. "Anyway, I don't see how we have a choice here, and what harm will it do to try."
"Not so sure of yourself now, hey?" Piper said to her, noticing her confidence waning.
"Well, has anyone else got a better idea?" Paige asked defiantly. After a lengthy silence, she continued, "thought so!"
"Give it your best shot!" Phoebe told her.
Paige put the seeds on the table and thought for a few seconds. Finally she said, "Hear our needs, dispel our fears, we ask that these, age 22 years."
The three sisters all looked expectantly at the packet of seeds on the table. Nothing happened.
"That should have worked!" Paige said looking on disappointedly.
"Don't worry, Paige, you did the best you could." Phoebe consoled.
"We'll just have to think of something else." Piper added.
"Wow!"
"Cool!"
Suddenly two deep voices could be heard coming from behind them, making them all jump and turn, prepared to face any foe confronting them.
"Oh my God!" Piper exclaimed as she was faced with two very grown up sons, still standing in the playpen. Both had broken bits of clothing falling off them.
"Chris?" Phoebe asked recognising one of the men immediately, not sure what was going on.
Chris looked at all of them with a big smile on his face. "This is so much better than how I was before, thank you all so much."
"Chris, what are you doing here? What's going on? Where are my boys?" Piper asked, her voice rising with every question.
"I don't really know how this happened, but it's really cool! And I can talk! You can understand me!" An elated Chris answered his Mother. He then looked at his arms, and down his now grown up body, and then realising he could, climbed out of the playpen. He looked back up at his Mother, very pleased with himself, "Can we stay this way, please, Mum, please." He begged.
"I think it was the spell Paige just said, Mum." Wyatt guessed as he, too stepped out of the playpen.
"Mum? You're Wyatt?" Piper asked, starting to panic.
"My spell?" Paige repeated thinking whether that was possible.
"You've aged my boys 22 years, Paige. Fix it, now!" Piper demanded.
"No, Mum, please," Chris begged her. "It's so much more fun being this size, can we just stay like this for a little while, please. Please."
"No, Chris! This was a mistake, and it needs to be fixed." Piper looked over to Paige. "And Aunt Paige is going to fix it right now, aren't you."
"Demons!" Chris suddenly shouted, pointing to a group of ugly looking creatures that had just shimmered in behind his Mother and Aunts.
The girls immediately turned to face them, Piper trying to blow them up unsuccessfully.
"Wyatt, orb your little brother out of here. Quickly!" Piper instructed.
Wyatt placed his hand on Chris's shoulder and the two grown up Halliwell Brothers disappeared in a cloud of orbs.
The two young men materialised seconds later in Piper's office at P3.
"We've got to go back, Wyatt and help Mum." Chris shouted to Wyatt over the noisy music emanating from outside the office door.
"No, Chris, we'll stay here until Mum comes and gets us." Wyatt replied.
"How will she know where we are?" Chris said as he moved toward the door, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"I only know how to orb to three places, so they'll work it out."
"I wish I knew how to orb." Chris said, turning to look at Wyatt.
"You'll learn, just like I did. It's easy really, all you have to do is think of wanting to go to a certain place, and then you just go there."
Chris closed his eyes and thought about going to the other side of the office and then before he realised what was happening he disappeared in a cloud of orbs and reappeared on the other side of the room.
"I did it!" He shouted to Wyatt excitedly.
"We must have stronger powers because we're older." Wyatt worked out.
"Hey, Wyatt?" Chris said to his brother, suddenly sounding very serious. "I need to go, you know." He said sounding slightly embarrassed.
Wyatt looked at Chris not understanding what he was talking about, and then when Chris grabbed his crotch, it clicked.
"What do I do? I don't have my diaper on?" Chris asked sounding desperate.
"You use the toilet, like I do now. It's through there." Wyatt said pointing to a door in the back of the room.
Chris disappeared through the door, while Wyatt started to investigate some clothes in a box in the corner.
"Handy," he said to himself as he sorted through the contents.
A few minutes later Chris re-appeared, "Now that was so much more civilised than using a diaper!" Chris exclaimed.
"Mum will be happy to hear that!" Wyatt said to him as he threw him some clothes. "I found these in that box over there – I think we'd better get dressed just in case we see anybody."
"I wonder what's going on outside?" Chris said after he had managed to get himself dressed in the jeans and buttoned up shirt Wyatt had given him. He walked over to the door of the office and was about to open it to take a peek at what was happening in the club, when it suddenly opened in on him.
"Oh, sorry." The young bar manager said, and then smiled when he recognised the younger Halliwell. "Chris, my man, I didn't know you were back in town, come out and have a drink with your old friend Dennis."
"Dennis? Do I know you?" Chris asked.
Dennis looked at him quizzically for a moment, and then thinking he was joking, laughed as he put his arm around Chris's shoulder and moved him outside. Chris looked back at Wyatt to make sure he was following them.
"I'm sorry, how rude of me. Hi, I'm Dennis." Dennis said extending a hand for Wyatt to shake.
Wyatt returned the handshake saying, "I'm Wyatt. We don't want to be any trouble."
"You're no trouble, Chris is an old friend. Come and sit at the bar and I'll get you both a drink."
The two men followed Dennis, weaving their way through the young crowd dancing to the music being played by a band up on stage.
After taking their seats at the bar, Chris turned to Wyatt. "This is amazing, have you ever seen this place like this? I've only seen it when nobody's been here."
Wyatt was also fascinated by his surroundings. "No, I don't remember seeing it like this either. Everyone seems to be having a lot of fun, they don't seem to be too worried about Demons."
"There you go, two beers, on the house." Dennis said as he placed two ice-cold bottles of beer in front of the two curious Halliwell Brothers.
"Thanks." Chris said as he cautiously picked up the bottle and smelt the contents.
Wyatt was a bit more adventurous and took a drink of the cold liquid.
"What's it like?" Chris asked.
"Bitter." Wyatt said pulling a face. "But not too bad," he said as he took another drink.
Chris took a drink, and immediately his face contorted. He looked around desperately hoping to find somewhere to spit the foul tasting liquid out from his mouth, but realising there wasn't anywhere, he held his nose and forced himself to swallow it.
"That was gross!" He said to Wyatt. "I don't know how you can drink that stuff!"
Dennis noticed Chris's reaction to the beer and enquired whether anything was wrong.
"I just don't feel like beer tonight. Do you have anything with orange juice in it?"
"How about a Vodka and orange?" Dennis suggested.
"Sounds fine." Chris told him.
As Dennis was making Chris's drink he asked, "So, Piper named both her sons after you guys, you must be pretty special to her."
"Yes we are." Wyatt answered, not really knowing what else to say.
Dennis placed Chris's drink in front of him, and then was called away by one of the bar staff.
Chris cautiously took a drink, and was very relieved to taste orange juice. He took a couple of big gulps, not realising how thirsty he was. "So do you know who this other Chris guy is that Dennis thinks is me?" He asked his brother.
"I think it was a guy who used to be around our house before you were born. He got hurt trying to save me from this bad man called Gideon. I haven't seen him since."
"And he looked like me?"
Wyatt looked Chris up and down. "Yes, he did. I hadn't realised until you said it."
Chris finished his drink as a young blonde woman came up behind him. "Excuse me, my friend and I," she said pointing to her a very good-looking dark haired woman sitting at a table not far away, "were wondering if you both would like to dance."
"Sure." Chris answered before Wyatt could say anything.
"Chris, maybe we should just stay here and wait." Wyatt cautioned.
"Oh Wyatt, come on, we don't know how long we're going to be like this, let's just have a bit of fun." Chris reasoned.
Wyatt considered what Chris had just said, and nodded his head in agreement.
"Great." She said as she led the two brothers to the dance floor, meeting her friend on the way.
Chris and Wyatt enjoyed dancing with the girls for a while, only pausing to have a couple more drinks. Then, suddenly, while dancing, Chris grabbed his head.
Wyatt noticed immediately. "What's wrong?" He asked his brother, concerned.
"I'm just feeling a little dizzy." He said his words slurring. "Wow, is it hot in here?" Chris added, trying to fan himself with his hand.
"I'm feeling a little strange, too, I think we'll go back to Mum's office and sit down for a while."
Wyatt helped Chris to lie down on the couch in the office, but didn't realise the girls had followed him in there. He turned to close the door and walked straight into Amy, the dark haired girl he'd been dancing with.
"This is much better, much more private," Amy said as she put her arms around Wyatt's neck.
Wyatt didn't want to hurt the girl, and tried to take her arms away from his neck. But before he managed that, Amy had started to push him towards the desk in the back of the room, and planted a passionate kiss square on his lips. Wyatt started to push her away, but with the alcohol clouding his judgement, and realising he was enjoying the experience, he started to kiss her back.
Chris, who was lying on the couch trying to steady the room, also didn't know what hit him, when the girl he had been dancing with, Kim, jumped on top of him and started kissing him too. "Wyatt?" He called to his brother when he was able to draw a breath. When Wyatt didn't answer him, he looked around as Kim started to kiss his neck, and noticed Wyatt was busy with Amy on top of the desk. "Wyatt, do you think…." Chris started to ask, but was cut off when Kim's lips found his again. Chris realised he didn't have the strength to fight this young woman, and deciding that what he was experiencing was not at all unpleasant, and seeing his brother doing the same, he willingly gave in to his adult urges.
Oh! My! God! What the hell do you think you're doing!" A very familiar voice shouted from the door to the office.
"Mum!" Both Halliwell boys said at once as they looked up to see an incredibly shocked Piper and Leo standing looking at them, their mouths open in astonishment.
Immediately, the boys pushed their respective partners away, Chris trying to do up his shirt, Wyatt trying to find his.
We were ummm, we were just…." Chris tried to explain, but he was having difficulty thinking clearly.
Piper moved over to the two women who had just been all over her boys. "Sorry, you picked the wrong guys tonight. Off you go. Quickly." She said sternly.
"I think they're big enough to make up their own minds!" Amy said defiantly to Piper.
"I'm warning you lady, I'm not in the mood to argue!" Piper shouted at her.
"You really don't want to see her dark side." Leo warned Amy, who decided to take Leo's advice and follow Kim out the door.
"We've been looking everywhere for you two." Piper started to tell them.
"We've been worried, sick." Leo continued. "We thought that demon might have followed you. Wyatt didn't you hear us calling you?"
"No, Dad, I didn't hear anything." Wyatt replied honestly as he finally found his t-shirt and put it back on.
"I think they've been a bit busy!" Piper exclaimed to Leo.
"They attacked us!" Wyatt said, trying to defend their actions.
"It didn't look like you were attempting to fight them off!" Piper challenged him.
Leo remained silent, with a slight smile on his face, knowing he was witnessing a glimpse of the future.
"It was Wyatt's idea to stay here." Chris said as he attempted to stand, and then feeling dizzy started to fall back toward the couch again.
"Thanks for the support Chris!" Wyatt cursed him.
"Are you okay?" Piper asked, concerned as she moved next to Chris.
"No, I'm feeling really dizzy, and a little sick." Chris replied.
"I thought this was the safest place to stay until you came to get us." Wyatt justified.
"You were right Wyatt, this was a good place to come." Leo agreed, trying to give his older, and very embarrassed son, a little support.
As Piper sat next to her younger son, she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"Have you been drinking?" She asked incredulously.
"Wyatt had beer, but I just had juice." He told her honestly. "Dennis gave it to us – he thought I was the other Chris."
"The one that saved my life before Chris was born." Wyatt explained.
"You remember him?" Piper asked surprised.
"Vaguely. Why does this Chris look like he did?" Wyatt asked.
Piper looked at Leo, not really knowing what to say.
"That's a long story," Leo said as he picked up a glass on a side table near the couch and smelt the contents. "Vodka." He said to Piper.
"That explains a lot." She said.
"We'd better get you guys home." Leo said as he walked over to Wyatt. "Do you think you could orb us all home?"
"I can orb myself home, Wyatt taught me how." Chris said, and before Piper or Leo had a chance to stop him, Chris closed his eyes, concentrated, and then disappeared.
"Quickly, Wyatt, orb us home, now." Piper said as she ran to Wyatt and held his hand.
Piper, Leo and Wyatt all appeared seconds later in the attic of the Manor. Phoebe and Paige were both still working on a vanquishing potion when they arrived.
"Thank God, you found them." Phoebe said, and then noticed someone was missing. "Where's Chris?"
"He's not here?" Piper asked frantically.
"Can you sense where he is, Wyatt?" Leo asked his oldest son.
Wyatt closed his eyes and concentrated, and then opened his eyes and said, "My head feels really cloudy, it's very hard to concentrate."
"It must be the alcohol." Leo explained. "It dulls the senses."
"Alcohol, what alcohol?" Phoebe asked.
"They were at P3." Piper answered, and then turned to her younger sister, "Paige, can you sense Chris?" She asked.
"Were they drinking?" Paige asked, surprised.
"We'll explain after we find Chris, please Paige can you sense him. He may look twenty two, but he's really only eight months old." Piper pleaded with her.
Immediately she closed her eyes and concentrated. "I think he's at Magic School."
"Why would he be at Magic School?" Phoebe asked.
"I don't care, I just want him back. Paige can you orb me there?" Piper asked.
"Sure." Paige replied.
"Leo, can you put Wyatt to bed, we'll change them back in the morning. I don't want them to be children again, until they're both sober."
"No problem." He said as he watched Piper disappear with Paige in a cloud of orbs.
Piper and Paige arrived at Magic School to find Chris huddled on the floor near the closed nursery.
"Chris, are you okay, honey?" Piper asked concerned.
"Mum!" Chris shouted relieved as he ran to his Mother and gave her a loving hug. "Why didn't you orb here like you said you were going to?"
"We didn't say to come here, we said to go home." Piper said to Chris.
"This is home." Chris answered her, not understanding what she was talking about.
"Chris, this isn't home, sweetie, this is Magic School." Piper calmly explained.
"But Magic School is home, isn't it?" Chris asked, now completely confused.
"No, Chris, the Manor is home, where we were earlier tonight. Why did you think this was home?" She asked.
"This is the place where I spend most of my time. Most of my memories are here, so I thought this was home. I thought the other place was like a holiday." He explained.
"Oh, Chris." Piper said as he held her younger son close to her, giving him a big comforting hug. "Come on, let's get you to your real home, and get you to bed, I'll explain all this to you in the morning. You must be really tired."
Chris just nodded, as Paige held on to Piper and Chris's hands and then orbed them both back to the Manor.
