A/N: This is a translation of my German fanfiction 'Die Prophezeiung'. The story takes place after 6x12 "Prince Charmed", so the sisters know that Wyatt will become evil in the future, but they don't know who Chris really is.

Chapter 1: Memories

"Where do you think you're going?"

Paige flinched unconsciously, hearing the reproachful voice behind her. She was nearly at the bottom of the stairs in the manor's foyer, when a certain whitelighter stopped her.

"Chris, listen. It's Saturday evening and I've got a date for which I'm already late. So if you don't mind, I'm going now."

"And if I do mind?"

Paige looked up at the dark haired young man, who was watching her from the landing, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Her left hand stemmed into her hip, her right index finger against her lips, she seemed to be contemplating his question for a few seconds, only to reply with a playful smile,

"Well, in that case… I'll still go."

When the youngest of the Charmed Ones turned around and headed towards the front door, she could hear how Chris hurried down the stairs behind her to catch up with her.

"Paige, the demons don't care if it's Saturday evening or not. We've already been attacked once today, they could come back."

"But Piper blew them up, didn't she?" Paige had reached the door by now and was rolling her eyes when she turned around to her whitelighter.

"Just two of them," the young man protested immediately. "There's still a chance that the third could try it again." Chris was desperate. Why was it that nobody ever took his warnings seriously? He was only here in this time to stop his brother Wyatt from turning evil. Well, not that anyone knew about that; at least not the part with the brother.

He had already managed to break the news of Wyatt's future as a tyrant and murderer to Piper and Leo, but the fact that he himself was their son, too, would remain his secret for the time being.

Not that they would believe him, anyway, as he knew that especially Leo still doubted him. Plus, even if his mother and aunts didn't think he was evil or some kind of threat, the young man didn't have the feeling that they particularly liked or at least supported him.

"Oh, calm down Chris, will you? Nothing is going to happen. Piper is here keeping an eye on Wyatt and you're here, too, aren't you? And if you really need me, you can call me. Like a whitelighter, I mean. I've practised with Phoebe and although I'm not as good as you or Leo yet, if you call me loudly enough, I'll hear you and come immediately. Satisfied?"

Paige could clearly see that he was not satisfied, but it would have to make do. She was very proud of finally having improved her whitelighter powers, but Chris did not seem to have paid very much attention to that part of her explanations.

"Alright, fine. But don't stay out too long."

"Ok, mum!" Paige, who was already out of the door, waved goodbye to him over her shoulder, then got into her car and drove off for her date with Richard. Of course, she could easily have orbed there, but since he was trying to live without magic, she too did her best to go without it whenever they met.

Shaking his head, Chris closed the front door and went into the kitchen to grab something to eat. He could only hope that the sisters would soon start to acknowledge his authority as their whitelighter, or would at least heed his warnings more often. At times he wanted nothing more than to tell them the whole truth. About him, about Wyatt, about the future. Everything that had went wrong in his time and all the crimes his oh-so-wonderful brother had committed.

But he had no idea what had caused Wyatt's change or how much he could alter the future without making everything worse. Once it had even crossed his mind that he could be the one responsible for everything.

If he told the witches now about Wyatt's crimes and cruelties, resulting in them unconsciously keeping the boy at a distance, couldn't that turn out to be the reason why he had turned his back on them and everything the Charmed Ones had always stood for?

Chris' head hurt just thinking about the possible implications of his time travel. He was only 22 years old and although he had seen quite a lot in his life, he felt that nothing could ever have prepared him for this. Phoebe's and Paige's constant encouragements to relax and take things more easily seemed almost ridiculous in light of what was at stake. Although of course he couldn't expect them to understand. They had no idea what he had been through and if he did things right, they never would.

Chris had been standing in the half-dark for quite a while now, absentmindedly scanning the contents of the fridge, so he was rather surprised when the light in the kitchen was suddenly turned on. As if caught doing something forbidden, he instantly closed the door and spun around to come face to face with the oldest of the Charmed Ones.

"Hey, Chris."

Whether it was because of the familiarity of the situation, or simply fatigue, Chris wasn't sure, but for some reason, images of his childhood suddenly appeared before his eyes without him being able to stop it. He could see his mother, who had caught him literally with his hand in the cookie jar, although dinner was almost ready, standing exactly where Piper now stood, looking at him reproachfully. She had always pretended to be offended in moments like that, because he obviously hadn't appreciated her cooking skills.

"Hi… Piper." It had taken all of Chris' self-control not to call her 'mum' and to just collapse into her arms, although that was really all he wanted to do right now. But he would not spill his secret. That would make things far too complicated.

"Did you just have to think to remember my name?" Piper replied half jokingly as she came further into the room and made her way past Chris to have a look into the fridge herself. As she was busy studying its content, she didn't see the longing expression that passed over her whitelighter's face for a moment.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just a little tired."

Obviously satisfied with this answer, Piper nodded shortly while she started to carry several items from the fridge onto the kitchen table.

"I know, at the moment it's just the two of us and Wyatt, but I'm really in the mood for cooking, so why don't you keep me some company and maybe lend me a hand?" Piper looked at the young man questioningly, already fully expecting him to turn her invitation down. As long as there was no demon hunting involved, their new whitelighter never seemed to be very sociable, especially in regards to her. He had been with them for the past few months, but Piper barely knew anything about him, except that he was from the future and didn't talk a lot.

"Yeah, sure. Why not."

Clearly startled by this answer, Piper raised her eyebrows as she kept looking at Chris, having the very strong impression that he was no less surprised than she was by his reply. However, she was actually really glad about it and figured that maybe this was an opportunity to finally break the ice between them. Because she couldn't shake the feeling that Chris was sometimes trying to avoid her or was at least often uncomfortable to be alone in a room with her. She had no idea if maybe he hadn't liked her in the future, but the witch decided that if that was the case, she would use this time to improve the negative opinion Chris apparently had of her.

"Should I get you something from the kitchen?"

"No, thanks, I got everything I need."

Smiling, Piper shook her head in disbelief at herself as she went into the kitchen to get another bottle of coke. Just how had Chris managed to make her agree to dinner in front of the TV? Usually that was completely out of the question for her, but despite of that, she and her whitelighter had settled down on the couch, were having chips and coke for dessert, while watching the umpteenth rerun of 'The Firm' on TV.

The young man was suddenly displaying completely new sides to him, the existence of which Piper had never even thought possible before. She was just hoping that he wouldn't revert back to his usual withdrawn self after tonight, because she feared his morosity could be his downfall one day.

It was as if he was forgetting he wasn't alone in this. She, her sisters and Leo would never allow anything to happen to Wyatt, but it was no use to drive oneself crazy about it all the time. More than once she had witnessed how an inner turmoil could affect one's powers and in an emergency that could prove to be the greatest danger of all. She was not going to risk that.

Trying to get rid of these negative thoughts at least for the moment, Piper shook her head resolutely. She didn't want to spoil this evening; not if everything was actually peaceful for once.

After she had sufficiently equipped herself for the rest of the movie, Piper headed back to the living room, but stopped when she passed Wyatt's playpen to look at her sleeping son for a moment. Chris, still being anxious about today's demon attack, had insisted not to leave the boy unattended in his room for so long, and so Wyatt was now lying on a stack of blankets and pillows and was sleeping peacefully.

Piper couldn't help but smile as she thought about how awkward Chris sometimes seemed to be around him. It certainly had to be strange for him to hold the same Wyatt he had known as a grown man suddenly in his arms as a child.

However, her smile faded instantly as she thought of the last time Chris had seen the adult version of her son. His fiancée Bianca had forced him to return to the future where she had then been killed by Wyatt; Piper's beloved son Wyatt. Chris hadn't told them much about what exactly had happened, but knowing what she did now about the future, she had gathered as much.

Somehow Piper felt guilty as she looked over to the young man sitting on the couch. Her son had caused him so much pain and suffering, but despite all that, he wasn't here for revenge or to kill Wyatt as long as he was still young. No, he had come into this time to prevent the innocent child from ever becoming the monster he knew.

Chris had never told them about his family, but Piper hoped that they were still alive in his time and very proud of him. Had she been his mother, she would be.

It was about ten minutes later, when Chris suddenly felt a strange tingling all through his body. Piper obviously felt it, too, because she muted the television and looked at him questioningly. Then, as if on cue, they both jumped off the couch and headed over to Wyatt who had his forcefield activated and was looking around the room anxiously. None of them could see anything, but they were certain not to be alone anymore.

Chris took a few steps away from the playpen to see if he could make out anything suspicious, when a choked gasp behind him suddenly made him turn on the spot in an instant.

Blood.

So much blood and Piper, who stared at him with her eyes wide open and whose gaze then slowly went down to the tip of the dagger protruding out of her chest. Chris felt as if his own heart had stopped beating while he was fighting against the memories that were threatening to make their way back into his consciousness. All that blood… the blade… Piper who was looking at him, close to death…

It was a scream that got him back into reality, the same moment the demon behind his mother became visible and brutally yanked the dagger back out of her body. His appearance was almost human, although wilder and more feral, and his eyes seemed to be glowing from the inside.

Only subconsciously Chris realised that it hadn't been Piper or the demon who had screamed, but himself, whereby he had managed to attract the attention of their attacker.

The whitelighter clenched his hand into a fist, using his telekinesis to stop the demon in his movements, but his opponent managed to break free from the grip within seconds and now advanced on Chris with the bloody dagger in his hand.

Flinging his enemy across the room with magic didn't work, either, so the young man didn't have another choice but to back away slowly. His eyes wandered over to Piper constantly and he could see how she tried to steady herself with the help of the bars of Wyatt's playpen, but now inevitably sank to the floor. He was overly aware of the pain etched into her features and wanted nothing more than to be at her side, but he would have to get rid of this demon first. As his powers obviously had no effect at all, he resorted to attacking his opponent with everything in his reach, but vases and chairs didn't seem to make much of an impact, either.

Now Chris had literally been driven into a corner and he was forced to realise that he couldn't do anything against this demon. The only choice he had left was to try and orb Piper, Wyatt and himself to safety. The Power of Three would be strong enough to vanquish the demon later, but for that Piper had to survive first.

Chris was just about to orb himself across the room to his mother and brother, when an explosion suddenly hit the demon in his side and made him yell out in pain. The dagger fell from his hand as he was gasping for air, obviously badly hurt. After throwing a last hateful look at Chris, the demon ultimately vanished as quickly as he had appeared.

For a short moment the young man stood petrified. No one else was in the room, so who had injured the demon? His mother was on the ground, unconscious, she couldn't have done it.

Oh god, mum!

"Mum!" In merely a heartbeat Chris was kneeling next to her on the ground, her frighteningly cold hand in his.

"Mum." Very carefully, so he wouldn't aggravate her injury, he pulled Piper into his arms. Blood soaked through his jeans and t-shirt, but he noticed neither that, nor the tears that were streaming down his cheeks, mingling with the red liquid.

"Leo." What was at first nothing more than a whisper, quickly became much louder, until he was shouting his father's name at the top of his voice. In his panic Chris didn't even realise immediately when the Elder finally appeared in a swirl of blue light.

Leo had to grab his shoulders and even shake the young man slightly, until his mind finally snapped back into gear.

"Let her go." Leo realised how shaken the young whitelighter in front of him still was, so he tried his best to sound as calm as possible, although, in light of Piper's condition, fear had taken a firm hold of his heart.

"I'm going to heal Piper, but you have to let her go, so I can reach the injury."

Chris took a moment to follow the instruction, but then he slowly let Piper's body sink to the floor again. As he was apparently not willing to part from her completely, though, he still held her hand tightly, while his eyes were fixed on Leo.

Now the Elder finally had the chance to help and he quickly let his hands hover over the wound through which Piper's life was still escaping. For one terrifying moment it seemed to be too late, but then the familiar glow finally appeared and the injury faded away, just like the blood on Piper's clothes.

Immensely relieved, Leo watched as the love of his life breathed steadily again and then slowly began to open her eyes. When he had heard Chris' desperate screams, he had come immediately, leaving a meeting with the other Elders to their obvious disapproval. He couldn't remember the last time he had heard so much panic and despair, though, so he didn't have another choice but to answer the call right away, as something horrible must have happened.

Now that Piper was quickly recovering and Wyatt was alright, too – of that Leo had made sure immediately upon his arrival – the Elder was shocked as he saw the expression in Chris' eyes when he looked over to him. Had this been his only hint at the situation, he would have expected to see Piper's dead body on the floor.

For the first time Leo's gaze went lower now and to his horror he saw the blood that was still soaking the whitelighter's clothes. Was it just Piper's or his own, too?

"Are you hurt?"

It took a while for the meaning of these words to filter through to Chris and even then he was only able to answer with a soft shake of his head. He couldn't get the picture of Piper and the dagger protruding from her chest out of his head, but it was gradually being replaced by an image from his memories, showing nearly the same scene:

Piper was standing in front of him, just about to hand him a present, as a dark clad man suddenly appeared behind her with a long blade in his hand, which he instantly proceeded to run into her back. Chris had tried to warn her, but everything had happened so fast, and before he had really known what was going on, more men in the same clothes had appeared everywhere. Screams had filled the house for a few moments, but sooner than he could have imagined, everything had become quiet again.

Out of the corner of his eye he had seen his aunts and two of his cousins fall to the ground, but he had just been kneeling at his mother's side, staring into her dead eyes, too shell-shocked to think about his own safety.

The man, or rather demon, who had killed Piper had then approached him and had kicked him slightly to get his attention. Chris should have seen his end coming, but before the sword could have touched him, his surrounding had vanished behind a wall of blue light. In the last moment he had been able to see Paige, her arm outstretched in his direction, who had orbed him to safety…

Piper's face directly in front of his was what finally brought him back to the here and now. She had her hands at the sides of his head and was forcing him to look into her eyes.

"What happened, Chris? Are you alright?"

During the healing, Piper had been surprised when she had realised that Chris had been holding her hand, but his following reaction had actually been an even bigger surprise.

When she had regained consciousness, the young man had been sitting on the ground, his back against Wyatt's playpen and his legs pulled up to his chest. He had been hugging his knees and staring of into space, while being cover in sickening amounts of blood.

Seeing him like that had almost been a larger shock for Piper than the demon attack itself. What had happed for the young whitelighter to be this distraught? It wasn't the first time that one of them had been hurt or even nearly killed, and although it had been very close this time, that didn't explain his behaviour.

"Chris, talk to me!"

Deep concern was clearly audible in her words, but Chris couldn't bring himself to follow her request.

The attack and Piper's injury had brought up too many memories he had been trying to bury for years and being here now with his future parents without being able to talk to them about all that seemed suddenly unbearable.

Chris struggled to get back to his feet, but ignored Piper's hand as she was trying to help him. The only thing she managed to get out of him, before he orbed away, was:

"I can't."

To be continued