AUTHOR: always krissy
DISCLAIMER: Charmed and Joan of Arcadia do not belong to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story can be read as a stand alone or you can read part two. It might not be as angsty as I was hoping... but I tried. I really did. :D I hope crossovers are allowed. *grins* This was written for dragonsinger for the livejournal community charmedflashfic's second round. :)
TIMELINE: Set after Season six's Hyde School Reunion
CHALLENGE: Leo, angst
PAIRING: Leo/Piper, Chris
RATING: PG
And in some way, all the love that we had can be saved
Whatever it takes, we'll find a way
To Love You More, Celine Dion
Leo tried to ignore the growing silence he had invertly created. He knew his new orders were big, but he didn't think it was that big. Not like the news he'd learned the day before. Chris Perry, the kid from the future, was his son. His. Son. He glanced between the two, watching their reactions. He had to know they'd be okay with his decisions.
Chris opened and closed his mouth. He could only stare at Leo, thunderstruck, attempting to form coherent words.
"What? You can't be serious." Piper finally broke the silence, her eyes wide in surprise. "He's our whitelighter, we need him!" Leo could hear the unsaid. He's our son, I need him.
He bowed his head, unable to look at his wife or at his son. It still blew him away when he even thought about Chris being his... son. And it hurt most of all, that Leo was the last to find out about him. Even Phoebe and Paige had known before him.
Maybe a small part of him had planned this with spite, but mostly, he was worried. With Piper -- pregnant with Chris -- she wasn't going to be exactly open-minded when it came to future dangers. He was also worried about Wyatt. Wyatt was still so young, and needed his mother's complete attention, not divided between their future son -- who wasn't even born yet -- and him.
He could only hope that Piper could see it, too.
And it wasn't like Chris would be totally gone. Piper would be pregnant with him for nine months, and if an emergency came up, there were people nearby who could orb. Chris could orb back, Paige could orb to and from, and even Wyatt would if the situation was dangerous enough for him. And if Leo was needed that badly, he would be more than happy to orb. It was the least he'd be able to do.
"I am your official whitelighter," Leo replied, calmly. He finally looked up and offered a half smile to Piper, "And now I think its time for Chris to help someone else."
At those words, Chris finally found his voice.
"I came back here to help protect Wyatt -- my brother! -- and I won't leave him to go help some witch come into her powers clear across the country!"
"I agree with Chris," Piper was fighting to keep her calm, and Leo could clearly see that anger would soon take over.
"Look, I know he's our son," Leo shot a quick glance at Chris, who stood with his arms folded defiantly across his chest, "but we can't do this. For the past two days that I have been here, you've spent more time with Chris, than Wyatt, and you just can't do that. Chris is our son, yes, but he won't even be here for another nine months. Wyatt's here, and in nine months, you won't be able to give him your complete attention. Let him have what the time he deserves."
Piper turned away angrily, "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"You think this is easy for me?" Completely ignoring the incredulous expression on Chris' face, he looked directly at his wife. "I would love nothing more than to leave Chris here, to let him be your whitelighter, but it's dangerous. Who is to say that someone else won't figure out his connection to us? What if someone already has? Where does that leave us then? A dead whitelighter and child. Let him help this girl, and it will give you time to Wyatt without interruptions. Maybe that's all he needs to be saved -- plenty of love and knowledge he won't be replaced with another brother."
"It's just so hard," she whispered. He could see the anger leaving behind a resigned acceptance.
"It will be okay," Leo soothed, gently touching her arm. He hoped it would be. It had to be if they were going to go on with their lives.
"Don't I get any say in this?" Chris watched his parents furiously, interrupting the quiet moment. "And shouldn't Phoebe and Paige get to hear this? I'm their whitelighter, too! You guys just don't get it -- there's evil after Wyatt and you think it will be solved with sunshine and bunnies? It didn't work like that in the real world, so why should it here?"
"Phoebe and Paige will have to deal with me. This concerns them, yes, but it's more important that *we* work this out. They'll understand. And I'm assigning the girls a new whitelighter when I return to the Elders. They will be well protected and their father has promised me he'll be around to offer any assistance they might need, and they have Darryl and his wife." He gazed intently at the man his son had grown up as. He would be a good whitelighter, he just had to find the right charge that *wasn't* family. "This girl, Joan, needs you. She isn't even aware that witchcraft is real, let alone that she has magic. And a demon has been bothering her, but she doesn't know it. You can help her, I *know* you can."
"Yeah, whatever," The look that came with the words would haunt Leo for weeks. The absolute anger and misery, laced with hatred and betrayal, was not something he liked to see from him, especially now that he knew who Chris really was.
"It won't be like this for forever. You can come home again, in a few months, or weeks," Leo amended. "Just... everyone needs time."
I need time to accept these changes, Leo thought. Too much is going on. Too much I can and can't do, and someday, it will all come crashing down if I don't get it settled now.
"Nothing I say will change your mind?"
Leo smiled lopsidedly at his son. "Think of it as an order from the Elders."
"I guess I'll go pack then," Chris sighed, "since I'm not needed here anymore."
Leo watched him dejectedly leave and looked at Piper. She was looking back at him silently.
"Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing?"
"I don't know," she told him honestly. "I just hope you're doing it for the right reasons."
Wyatt began to scream from his bedroom and she excused herself, and Leo leaned against the doorframe, staring out the kitchen window, unseeing.
He had to believe that he had done what was best for his family. If he wasn't, Wyatt may not be the only one in trouble.
He just had to believe that.
==
End.
Part two will be up shortly!