A/N: I know chapter one was on a few hours ago. But my beta just sent me the second one. Would you mind?
Recap from previous chapter:
In the attic, Piper stood up and said in a voice far happier than she felt.
"Well, it's over now. We can go back to our normal lives – at least until the next de—?"
"... now," murmured Paige incredulous.
Chapter 2
The wall behind the Book of Shadows suddenly started to glow and Wyatt's shield went up. A portal started opening. Piper, tranquilized within the safety her baby created to himself, smoothly placed the toddler in the playpen with her eyes fixed on the shinning spot.
The Charmed Ones got ready for an attack. Slowly, the light started to fade and the shapes of two people began to form until there was a young red-haired couple standing in the attic.
Piper had had enough of people popping up around the house and, without a second thought, raised her hands and to blow them up.
"Protego." A male voice shouted.
"Lamp." Paige orbed the object in their direction.
"Stupefy!"
Paige was knocked unconscious and her sisters ran to her. The strangers didn't move.
"LEO!" Piper shouted, checking Wyatt with the corner of her eyes; his shield was still up.
"Why do you have to be so extreme, Lil?" The young man calmly asked to his partner.
"They attacked first. It was self defense!" said the woman in an outraged tone.
"There are defensive spells! I thought you'd know by now".
The red-haired woman ignored her friend's comment and turned her look to the sisters.
"LEO! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Piper demanded to the ceiling and turned to the strangers. "Who are you?"
"Oh, hi, Piper," greeted the girl. "Sorry about the dramatic entrance, I will fix…"
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AND HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME?" But Piper didn't wait for the answer. She needed some time to adjust and to help Paige. With that in mind, she tried to freeze the strangers several times, but it didn't seem to work since the tall man ably deflected her power.
The strangers didn't appear to be frightened or angry at Piper's attack instead, they looked to be lightly waiting for the eldest sister to calm down. The man whispered to his partner. "Stupefying them didn't smooth our way in, you know?" She just snorted in response.
Phoebe realized the young man was holding a small weapon and it appeared to be sustaining a kind of shield around them.
Paige woke up, moaning in pain, and Piper started pacing in circles nervously screaming from the top of her lungs. "FOR GOD'S SAKE, LEO! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Nothing. No response whatsoever.
"Apparently, the guy sticks to his habits, huh?" The stranger murmured to her partner.
Phoebe started helping Paige to the couch without taking her eyes from the young man. She was really intrigued by his weapon, but she wasn't able to see it clearly from there. Paige, apparently, had a broken arm and was in a great deal of pain. As the young guy made a small move towards them and Phoebe screamed.
"Hold on, mister. Stay right where you are."
"I can help…"
"Don't move!" Phoebe demanded helping her sister carefully to the couch.
"I can really help. Look, I don't wanna hurt you."
Piper decided to take part at the conversation. "One more move and I swear to God I'll find a way to blow your sorry ass all the way back to wherever you came from!"
"No, please" he pleaded truthfully.
The guy couldn't be more than 25. He was a tall, handsome and sort of athletic young fellow. He didn't seem evil at all, Phoebe thought. Actually, his brown eyes showed nothing, but concern. But, after what all them went through, appearance wasn't too much to rely on.
The red-haired girl seemed bored. "You can't blow us or vanquish us… so drop the act, will you?"
"Lil, sheesh. Beautify the place and let me do the talking, ok?" The man reprimanded his friend once again. "Look, Phoebe, you're an Empath, right?" The man got back the diplomacy.
The middle sister nodded suspiciously.
"What if I drop my shields and let you sense me… Then, if you say it is ok, I move to Paige, ok? I really can help."
"Are you a white-lighter?" asked Phoebe narrowing her eyes.
"No, but I'm… I can help".
Paige moaned again, she was in deep pain. Piper stood still in front of the playpen – completely ready to destroy anything that tried to get to Wyatt who, yet shielded, looked curious at the new people around.
"How do I know you are not gonna trick me?" Phoebe asked the male stranger.
"You don't," the girl answered cockily.
"Less discussing and more blindly trusting in the man who claims he can help," cried Paige.
"Ok, we promised not to attack for now" Phoebe gave her older sister a quick glimpse.
The man dropped the protective field and his emotional barriers. Phoebe could sense concern, sorry and eagerness to help. She slightly nodded and he came forward.
And then Phoebe took the first clear sight of his weapon. A wand? What the hell is he doing with a wand? How weirdly cliché was that? she thought.
The man gently examined Paige's arm and waved his wand murmuring a few words. Paige seemed to be relieved immediately.
"Did you heal her?" Phoebe was curious.
"No, as I said, I'm no whitelighter. I just mended the broken bone and diminished her pain," and turning to his patient. "As long the lady doesn't put much pressure on this arm, it should be okay in a few days… Behave yourself, okay?"
Instead of answering, Paige simply agreed like a shy child. She had the strange feeling she was talking to her pediatric physician. The guy emanated caring and confidence.
"So, now that Paige is okay… I reckon you are not taking a random tour through our attic?" Piper asked in a sharp tone.
"Nope," the red-haired said directly to her.
The eldest sister had the first chance to look at stranger. She was just a small, thin girl, approximately Chris age – which meant – really young. An uninvited concern about her white-lighter crossed her mind when she realized how much of a child he still was.
Several thoughts started running through her read. "Chris was that young, but he tried to hurt her baby. What if this two had come to complete his mission?" Ah! She shook her head annoyed. "When did her little one become a junior high favorite target?"
"How old are you people?" Piper finally asked.
"Twenty-one," the strangers replied at the same time.
Paige cut. "To a more productive line of questioning: Who are you people and what do you want with us?"
The red haired girl placed her wand in the back pocket and offered her hand towards the sisters. "I see we started at the wrong foot here. I think we should start over."
Her partner nodded in proud agreement and she threw him an annoyed look. She turned with a beautiful smile to the Halliwells. Piper accepted the hand suspiciously and added. "Since apparently, you know who we are… you?"
"I'm Lily. This is Hugo. We come from the future." The atmosphere got immediately colder as she mentioned future. What the heck was going on here? Lily waved the thought and continued: "We're Chris's friends."
"If you're friends of that little brat, then we have nothing…"
"Piper, wait!" cut Phoebe "I don't sense anything bad coming from these two and they aren't blocking me out like Chris used to. We could find out something useful. Don't you think?"
"All right," snorted Piper. "Have it your way".
"Not Saint Chris back here, huh? Did they even get the right Chris?" Lily whispered to her friend.
Hugo who was not in a joking mood, said to the sisters "Where should we start?"
"The beginning," stated Paige "Why are you having this nice walk through time?"
"To help Chris help you of course." Lily answered. "He is running out of time more quickly than we imagined at first and since Wyatt is borderline insane by now we thought he could…"
Piper froze.
"Lil, stop spilling it all out. We don't know how much they know," Hugo reprimand whispering.
Finally acknowledging the astonished Halliwell's faces, Lily spoke out loud: "Judging by their shocked looks and knowing Chris, they don't know anything. He would have been neurotic about future…"
"… Consequences." Paige completed still in shock.
"Yes, they got the right Chris, see?" Lily concluded mainly to her partner.
Hugo ignored and started explaining. "Well, when Chris first came here we hadn't figured out every little detai–" but was suddenly interrupted by Piper.
'Did you call my son crazy? How dare..."– Piper' eyes glued at Lily.
"Uow. I didn't say crazy… I said borderline insane and I was being nice." Lily defended herself.
Piper knew where this was going. Chris probably had warned his friends about the fact the he was busted and managed to send a new team to help him finish whatever he started. Piper struggled to trust Chris once to protect Wyatt… she wouldn't be tricked again.
"… How dare you to come out here to sustain his lies? Are you telling Wyatt is evil too? And you expect us simply believe and help your agenda? You can go back to wherever you came from because I won't listen. I don't and won't trust you."
"Ow," Hugo knew nothing good could come from a Lily x Piper brunt, but before he could say a word, his friend's ears become as red as her hair…
"Look, Piper. Chris may have been too gentle, so I'll put in a way you understand: I DON'T NEED YOU TO TRUST ME. I have a very strong opinion about how we should deal with the Source of Evil. For all I care, we could go back to the future right now and vanquish you son's sorry ass. Actually, we only didn't do it yet because Chris begged us not to, he asked for a shot to save Wyatt and we'd give Chris anything. Are we clear?"
Piper sat down in shock, murmuring incoherently. "It's… I… You're lying…You couldn't… "
"Ha. Couldn't I?" Lily sounded outraged. "I'm sorry that you and Wyatt – for all that matters – are still so trapped in this Charmed Ones as the sole power thing, so let me break some news for you, Piper: magic goes much further… and I know more than half a dozen witches who could rip your precious son apart before he even knew what hit him. So, even if, by luck, Wyatt survived me… he would be able to win all rounds. Cut the crap, ok? We are here to try to save your son FOR THE LAST TIME before sending him straight to hell."
Piper was even more in shock. Her sisters sat near her in a protective way – because, clearly, she could fall apart at any minute. She was still shocked with the whole concept that appeared somehow to be a disgusting true. In a last a last attempt to blow the theory, Piper said in a shed of voice.
"This can't be… the prophecy… he's the most powerful being…"
Lily rolled her eyes. How did Chris get to be insecure coming from that background? The thought of him somehow managed her to control the urge to slap the woman in front of her… Chris wouldn't like it. With that in mind, she answered in a more controlled, but harsh tone.
"He's extremely powerful, sure, but not the only one. Prophets and seers are not exactly objective in their writing and this can be a great source of trouble… Trust me on that."
The Charmed Ones didn't say a word. They were still processing all the new information.
Hugo decided to do something to smooth the atmosphere and started talking, mainly to the younger sisters since Piper seemed to be in a sort of trance.
"We're here to help. And we can tell you things about the future, things Chris couldn't. We could even show if you want."
It was working since Phoebe and Paige got suddenly interested.
Hugo continued. "When Chris came, we didn't really know what was going on and how much could he say..."
Lily was calmer. "This is our first time time-traveling and we didn't quite understand it. But now, we got a spell to back us up and…"
"What kind of spell?" asked Phoebe curiously.
Hugo explained, "If we tell you things about the future, and you could make different decisions. So we will cast a spell which will, whenever it's crucial that you decide towards something, drive you to it."
The sisters looked quite confused, and Lily decided to help. "For example, if you are meant to have a kid with a bastard – you would do so – to prevent this kid from ceasing to exist…"
And Hugo completed. "It's not as easy as it sounds, but with a spell and a vow, we can tell you everything about the future."
"A vow?" Paige asked.
"The spell could be easily be reversed by the Power of Three… and we know it would be tempting sometimes. So, the vow will work as guarantee," Lily said.
"And you should actually want to, because the vow would be a threat to your lives," Hugo answered truthfully
The sister's frowned.
"It's an unbreakable vow spell," he sentenced.
"What?"
"A promise that would kill if you broke," the man explained.
"I don't know, we have to think," Phoebe sensed no evil from them, but the whole idea scream danger.
Lily was famous for her lack of patience. Think about what? The Charmed Ones, had a problem and they were offering a solution. What was there to think about? They were there to help, but it's not like she wanted to be stuck in the past forever. She decided to encourage the sisters in her on way.
"I suggest you decide quickly. I told you we could just go back and finish it now if you prefer… this is our LAST attempt to save Wyatt, you know." Her brown eyes slowly pierced each one of the sisters. She finally added, "So are you in or are you out?"
The three sisters could see she the young women was tired and the Empath realized that girl was truthfully ready to give up on whatever she was trying to do. And since this apparently meant her nephew's death, Phoebe was the first to respond. "I'm in."
This was enough for Paige. "Oh, what the heck… It's for Wyatt right?"
Piper hadn't said a word in a very long time. She was still in shock with the idea of an evil Wyatt and the girl in front of her… somehow she believed her… she couldn't be such a liar… she was barely out of her teens… just like Chris.
Oh, Chris, these young couple was a big reminder that he was also just a boy and looked also very tired and he wasn't lying either. What had those kids had lived through to look so old, to act so old? She wouldn't deny them a chance to protect Wyatt… the last chance apparently. She finally spoke, "Before I agree to that I need you two to promise me one thing. None of you will hurt Wyatt…"
"Look, Piper, I can't really promise you that. Although Chris firmly believes that he can be saved… It might not be possible and we'll have to stop him, somebody has to...
"I'm talking about baby Wyatt".
"I'd never do anything against a toddler… don't worry. We can deal with the adult one, I swear. If we can not save him now… If it is his destiny, we are gonna deal with the consequences in the time it belongs. So?"
"So let's do this." Piper nodded calmly. Her face didn't show a thing from the emotional turmoil she was feeling – fear, anger, suspicious, determination, concern, frustration…. Everything mixed together in a sort of numbness. The only thing she knew is she would do anything to bury this inside and save her son.
"Shouldn't we call Leo for this? I mean, Wyatt is also his son and he can help us, right?" Phoebe asked.
Hugo shook his head. "I don't this so. The spell wouldn't really work on him and the unbreakable vow is not much of a threat if you are technically dead. I don't think it would be safe for him to know everything. We should be careful about what we let him know."
"Ok, so, to the spell, will we? It's not like we have time to spare. Are you ready?" The three sisters stood up and lined in front of the young witch. She pick up her wand and gave it a quickly wave murmuring – Custodi vestri posterus. Now to the vow, will we? Hugo, can you play the bonder? "
"Wait? The spell – was it? How do we know it worked?" Asked the eldest sister.
"Oh, it worked. My aunt came up with it and her spells never backfire."
"With three words?" Piper was still suspicious. No matter how good the girl's aunt was, they couldn't expect such a simple spell like that to achieve such great results risk free.
"Spells tend to be very succinct in Europe. I don't remember ever using one with more than two words…"
"Europe?" Paige asked.
"Yes. Let's do the vow first so we can begin the explaining part. Hugo?"
The guy took his wand and looked at Piper. "You first, alright?"
"Now what?" She asked him accepting the hand Lily offered.
"It's quite easy, you just have to compromise and I will do the rest, ok?"
He placed the tip of his wand above the hand grip. Lily asked in a very steady voice.
"You never will undo, reverse or go against the future protecting spell?"
"I will never do."
A thick tongue of fire winds around their linked hands. The vow was repeated by the other two sisters in the same way.
"That's it. Now to the explaining part before anything odd happens. I'm dying in curiosity here." Phoebe stated as soon as the fire tongue vanished.