I don't own Charmed.

This story is set in season six before Chris-crossed because I don't want to have to worry about Bianca. So; trust is tenuous, the Charmed Ones have no idea who he is or why he is in the past. Also, Chris isn't Piper's second child but is her child. She isn't pregnant yet. There will be incestuous and slash-y undertones.

Paige Halliwell

Paige Matthews aws tucked up in her bed dreaming. Images flashed into her subconscious, she couldn't make sense of them. She saw herself, looking into a mirror but she wasn't the woman staring back, this woman was older by at least ten fifteen years, her back hair was cut extremely short so it barely covered her head. Her skin was still pale but almost deathly so, as if she hadn't seen sun in years… it reminded her of the way Chris had looked when he first came to the 'past', and on her left arm was a huge back tattoo which she recognized as being Chinese writing of an ancient Chinese proverb 'man's schemes are inferior to those made by heaven'. Her make-up was dark and she looked like a Goth. Her clothing was tattered, old, fashionable and nice; definitely something she would consider wearing. The room was darkened. She turned around to she her back and saw a triquatra tattooed on her lower back. It scared her and she quicky turned around to face the mirror, heart racing with an explained fear, she started shaking and suddenly her images was fading and everything was black. Voices came to her, two young boys playing, then a scream of terror from Piper, a warm loving male voice telling her to sush, 'everything will be alright' and a strange feeling, like she was dying. Then the image of herself at Piper's grave next to Prue's, Cole Turner was at her other side holding her hand and the hand of a young girl. In front of him was Phoebe's grave.

Paige woke the next morning, unaware of the importance of her dreams. After all, she wasn't psychic that was Phoebe's gig. However, for the whole day she couldn't shake off the unpleasant feeling. That morning she dressed carefully, trying to forget the outfit her Gothic self had been wearing. Bright colours, Paige, she thought to herself as she picked out a charcoal pair of skinny jeans, a low cut white vest top and a dark blue jacket. Frick! Not bright. Or colourful. But she didn't have time to change was she ran down stairs to grab a cup of coffee and her bag before heading out the door to her car to drive to work. Her latest temp job was as a kitchen assistant at a small café two blocks from Phoebe's office. They were going to have lunch together. Instead they ended up back at the house with ten minutes until break was up, staring at the attic wall where a blue flocculating triquatra had appeared. They tried calling for Chris but only Leo came. He thought it was a time portal or an inter-dimensional portal but couldn't tell them which or how it had gotten there. But, they reasoned, it must have something to do with them or it wouldn't have appeared in their attic using their symbol. Phoebe and Paige wanted to go in. Phoebe called work to tell them she'd be working at home for the rest of the day and Paige called her boss to complain loudly about how the chef had been feeling her up. When she ended the phone call she found three faces staring at her. "What?" she asked them, and explained that she couldn't just cancel and the chef was 'like fifty' and a bit too touchy feely for her liking.

Piper and Leo protested. Piper worried about taking Wyatt with them, or leaving him here. What if she couldn't get back? She'd leave her son motherless! Leo took the 'what if the other Elders need me' line and Piper picked up her cell immediately asking Sheila to baby-sit. Then Leo caved, too. In they went.

It had been day when they had jumped. Just two-thirty in the afternoon. Wherever/whenever they were now it was darker. More like a winter five o'clock. Outside the sky was cloudy and dusk was dimming the world so everything appeared slightly blue. Paige looked like she belonged with her plain clothing, and Piper was wearing a beige and brown outfit with Leo in greys and blues; but Phoebe stuck out like a sore thumb in her cherry red tank top and bright blue jeans. But she wasn't cold. It wasn't winter. It was just dark and dank and horrible. They weren't in the house anymore, in an alley way about five minutes walk to P3. But as they walked they saw everything was decimated; like pictures of a foreign country after a war and no body was bothering to fix it. A few people passed them, dressed in dark clothing often ragged. A child was with its father, skipping. But she should have been in school. A group of three teenagers were smoking in the back of an alleyway. A middle aged woman was clutching her bags as she moved quickly down the street. All these people were nervous, uncomfortable. Until a black clad demon flamed in openly. Piper, startled, tried to blow him up but it had no affect other than too anger him. He threw a blue lightning bolt at him and Leo retaliated with much the same kind, only then did the demon flame out, shock on his face and missing a limb.

"Oh my God, what was that?" Phoebe breathed out, a little bit hysterical.

"A Hater demon. He's not supposed to have the power of lightning bolts, that's reserved for Gods and Elders. His power is feeding of hate and fear, like an energy source." Leo cited like a text book. Phoebe looked annoyed at him him on the chest.

"No, I mean the bit where he orbed into the middle of a street in daylight. Sort of."

"I don't think it was much of a risk, Phoebs, this place is like a graveyard." Paige pointed out.

"Still."

"I think I know where we are." Piper said calmly, turning to her sisters and ex-husband. "We're in Chris's future."