A Charmed Story - Part Thirteen:
Freaky Friday
Chapter 2

"This isn't your uncle, Kevin," the older of the two boys said to the other. Then he turned to Chris again: "That's dad!"
"Well... a younger version of me," corrected the old Chris smiling.
The young boy, who the other one had called Kevin, frowned confused. Then he went over to Chris looking at him, wondering. "Matthew said you're our dad... are you our dad?" he asked.
Chris looked from the small boy to the older one: "Your name is Matthew?... So that's why Wyatt didn't tell me... you're named after him..."
"You know me?" Matthew asked now confused on his own.
The old Chris smiled, still looking at his younger version, and said: "We saw you, when you built up the bridge to Wyatt in the past."
Chris just nodded, completely shocked by all that. Was he really in the future? Or was that a trick by some demon?
Finally the others went over to him, too, and the old Chris patted his shoulder, while Matthew and Kevin hugged him. "Don't worry," the old Chris said, "this is real... you're about 23 years in the future..."
Chris nodded, but still he felt so dizzy. Everything was kind of unreal, it was like he would see the whole world through a big cloud. But the feeling of those cute boys, hugging his legs and waist respectively, let the things become real for him. Chris knelt down to look at them. 'God, he looks so much like me,' he thought looking and Matthew smiling. And turning to Kevin he thought: 'And he looks like his mom... That's unbelievable.'
Then he turned his head to Chris: "So we have three kids?"
The old Chris chuckled while Kevin stated: "No... six!"
Chris eyes grew wide as he stared at the boy, shocked again: "S-six?"
His older version nodded: "Yepp... apart from Hope and those two... there are also Natalie and Rebecca..."
"They are twins!" Kevin added which gained him a soft punch by his older brother.
"And Liam... the youngest."
Chris wanted to answer something, wanted to scream or something, but before he could say anything he heard again someone coming down the stairs. A little scared of what would happen next he turned his head same as the others.
"I swear to you, I did nothing," they heard a young male voice.
"Yeah... it was Christopher's idea... We were just up there to check something in the book, when he went in..."
That second voice Chris knew very well. "Wyatt," he muttered almost inaudible.
"He was just mumbling something like he needed some help with the whole sword-thing..." the first voice said.
Then three persons appeared to their view. "I still can't believe it... I thought you're already out of this experimenting-phase... Especially you Wyatt," said the leader of the group - an older woman with long partly brown, partly grey hair who looked really pissed. "You can be really happy that Paige isn't here, Jim," she added, pointing her finger at the other.
"Oh please don't tell her or dad... please... I don't want to be grounded again, especially since I didn't do anything..." the teenager replied whining.
Chris meanwhile had rose and looked at them not believing his eyes. "Mom..." he said with a low and almost breaking voice.
The three persons turned to the group. The two young men looked at them confused. Then the teenager called Jim exclaimed: "See... there he is... nothing bad happened."
But Piper immediately knew what was going on. Even if she had no sensing power or something like that. She knew this man in front of her wasn't Christopher. She saw it in his eyes. This man was Chris... the Chris from the past. "Oh my..." she muttered. And then she went over to him. She just wanted to hug him, because she could imagine, that this must be freaking him out.
But Chris couldn't stand this anymore. Seeing her... his mother, grown old... still alive... It was just too much to bear at that moment. Even if he knew his brother wouldn't kill her this time... It was just too much... Without any other word he orbed out.
"What...?" the old Piper asked surprised.
"Can anyone tell us what's going on here?" Wyatt asked.
"That was Dad!" Kevin stated.
"What?" Jim asked confused.
But then the truth hit Wyatt as he tried to sense for his brother. "Oh my God..." he muttered.
"Where is he gone?" Piper asked kind of frustrated.
The older Chris smiled weakly. "I guess I know it... Don't worry, I'll pick him up," he said. Then he gave his mother a kiss on her cheek and followed 'himself' by orbing.

& & & & &

Meanwhile in our time...
When the spinning stopped, Christopher looked around. "Oh shit..." he mumbled, noticing not only that his brother and cousin were nowhere to see but also that the attic was much too large. That wasn't his attic. "Oh my... I'm so grounded," he whined. Frustrated he moved his hand through his messy hair and again turned around himself for a couple of times. "Chris will kill me," he muttered again.
At that moment bluish orb lights appeared in front of him, and turned into the small body of three-year-old Wyatt. Both boys looked at each other frowning. "Where is Chris?" Wyatt asked then, sensing that this was not his big brother, even if he seemed familiar.
Christopher rolled his eyes and knelt down in front of him: "Hey, big brother, it's me... Christopher!"
"Christopher?" Wyatt asked back frowning. It was weird, his little brother was just a baby but... he couldn't deny that with the man in front of him it felt the same. And he remembered that, not so long ago, he had had the same feeling like now. It felt like when there had been two grown-up Chrises around. Or was he imagining that?
"Yeah it's me," the man said grabbing Wyatt's hands. "I'm sorry I've scared you, brother."
Wyatt was still frowning, but before anyone of them could say another word, they heard another voice from the stairs.
"Chris? Are you up there?"
"Shit... mom," Christopher mumbled. She couldn't find out... she couldn't. So he picked Wyatt up to his arms and orbed with him away right on time. When Piper opened the door the attic was empty.

& & & & &

Back in the future...
Chris sat under a tree on a little hill in the middle of an old cemetery as his older self orbed in. He orbed in Chris's back, so he couldn't see his face. But he knew that his younger self was crying. He knew it, because he remembered that day very well. And he tried to remember what he had done, or has to do now... 'Jesus, that's confusing,' he thought.
Taking a deep breath he sat down beside his younger version and put his arm around him.
"It's weird, but I'm happy you still know this place," Chris sobbed, drying his tears with his sleeve and then looking at his older version with red eyes.
The older Chris sighed and pulled his younger version into a close hug. "Of course I do... how could I forget it... even if she's alive this time."
The young Chris still sobbed a little his older version tried to soothe him: "It's ok, Chris. It's ok..."
"No, it's not... Mom died, MY mom died... And I just put that aside enjoying my life with the new Piper, forgetting about her..." Chris sobbed. He felt so much guilt.
"You didn't forget her... otherwise you wouldn't have been so shocked," the old Chris stated. "Our version of her is in our heart always and forever. That's why we made sure... well you will make sure that this place stays untouched."
The younger Chris looked up, seeing how the older one smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah... I bought this area... And I still come here from time to time, to think about her... and so will you..."
His younger version dried his tears and smiled weakly. "That's a good idea."
They sat together silently for a little while, thinking about their past life and the new life they now had, and the younger Chris began to relax more and more. He always wanted this... this chance to see how the future is like. And now that he had it, the first thing he noticed was that he clearly didn't belong there anymore. This, even if it was the time he should be in, it wasn't his... his time was back in the past, with his wife and girl. Still this could be a really interesting experience.
He sighed deeply: "So why am I here?"
The older Chris shrugged: "I'm not sure... but from what I heard in the hallway... I guess Christopher did something to help him deal with his destiny... You know, I told him when he turns twenty-four, I'll pass Excalibur on to him... But he doesn't want that... So I suppose he cast a spell or something... And I guess the fact that today is Friday 13th did the rest."
"It's Friday 13th here today?" Chris asked and the older one nodded. Then the younger one asked: "Why would he need to do something like that?"
The older Chris smiled: "He's afraid, same as we were..."
The younger Chris nodded and thought: 'I still am...' Then he said: "I guess we should go back, mom is surely worried sick." The older Chris had to chuckle by these words. "And," the younger one said, "I'm really wondering about the other surprises you have for me..."

& & & & &

Meanwhile in our time...
Christopher orbed with Wyatt up there to the Elder land. Trying not to be seen, he hurried down the long hallway to the private chambers. Even if - in his time - Christopher was up there a lot of times, he still didn't know all the Elders and therefore he was afraid that his cover would be blown. And on the other hand he wasn't sure how long his brother would stay calm in his arms.
Finally he reached the door he was searching for and knocked.
It took a little while, but then the door was opened. "Chris? What are you doing here?"
Christopher looked around, and when he saw that no one was near he whispered: "Uncle Odin, it's me... I'm in huge trouble and I need your help! The others can't know that I'm here."
Odin frowned, then he rose his eyebrows: "Christopher?" The young man nodded. "Oh my... come in, come in..."

& & & & &

When Piper reached the top floor, she found out that the attic was empty. What she didn't know was that someone had just left before she got there, and that this person was her little offspring, a bit grown-up and coming from faraway in the future. No, she didn't know this, but she FELT odd. Something was wrong, and she wouldn't be able to hide her distress. Her face, with a worried expression, turned to one side and the other scanning the room in search of that 'something' she was sure there was there. However, the room was quiet now, too quiet...
"Chris???" she repeated, stepping forward carefully and still looking around. No noise... But she'd heard something before! "Chris, this is no fun." It wasn't, and if she got no answer, then there was NO Chris there, so...
"Phoebe!" Piper had started to feel nervous. No answer either. But then she remembered that she wanted to go to the school. Ok... but Chris?
All of a sudden, she had a feeling, like a flash: "WYATT!?" And this was the problem... Wyatt wouldn't answer. "Wyatt!!! Come here right now, sweetie! Mom is worried!" Actually, Mom was more than worried. Something was wrong, she just felt it...
It was clear that Wyatt wasn't in the attic, so she started to the stairs which she climbed down faster than a lightning while still shouting her sons' names: "CHRIS!! WYATT! CHRISTOPHER!!"
She rushed to her room and after that to the nursery, but while she could find out the other kids were fine in the care of Bianca, she couldn't get Wyatt. "LEOOOOO!!! For God's sake, LEOOOOO Come here now, please! It's Wyatt...!"

& & & & &

Wyatt was safe of course, but not at home, and not with Chris... He was with his little big brother in the upper world, sitting on his lap while Odin paced around nervously and Christopher looked at him from time to time, a bit ashamed and scared at the same time.
"So you made up a spell..." Christopher nodded, and Odin, after sighing deeply, went on: "And you just appeared here."
And again, the young witch-Elder nodded, followed by a little giggle from Wyatt, a Wyatt bigger and bigger each day, who decided now to jump from his legs and play on his own on the floor.
"He appear!" the boy repeated happily, not even knowing what it was about. This made Christopher even more ashamed.
Odin stared at him now, stopping a few steps from him, hands at his back: "Why on earth did you do that?"
"I am... I am worried," he answered. "But I didn't want... I mean..."
"Personal gain, Christopher! Didn't your parents teach you that???" Odin was frustrated. Frustrated and worried, and he might be sounding a bit angry, but above all, he was worried.
Christopher lowered his eyes, and Wyatt raised his. "Don't shout at Chris, Uncle..." he said with an extremely serious expression for a kid.
"No, he's right, Wyatt..." Christopher muttered, very upset with himself. In fact, he knew HIS Wyatt would have said the same thing as Odin now. "What the hell are you thinking about?? Christopher!! Personal gain, damn it! You know you can put all of us in danger!" Oh, yes. And he had. "I..."
He was going to continue, and his eyes filled with tears, but what really startled him was the touch of those little hands around his knees. "I'm not telling mom or dad, I promise," said the childish voice of his brother.
Odin sighed again and sat down, taking his hand to his forehead to wipe out the sweat. He couldn't think of the consequences of that action, but not telling the scared man off was a sensible idea coming from the little child. He had to help, not worsen the situation by scaring the young boy to death! "Ok... Listen, Christopher... You're gonna go down there, and you will try to... keep the secret. They'll think you're Chris, so no need to frighten them all. I will talk to Silas and we'll see what we can do."
Christopher raised his eyes, now with hope towards him, and asked: "You sure???"
Odin smiled and stood up tiredly, going to them afterwards and patting his shoulder:
"Absolutely. Don't worry, buddy."
"No worry, baddie!" little Wyatt repeated, pronouncing the word buddy in a funny way.
Christopher had to laugh after all, and messed with the kid's hair.

& & & & &

When the door to his office was suddenly opened Darryl startled. He had been zoned out a little, since there wasn't much to do these days.
"Did I wake you up," Kyle asked smiling, when he saw how his colleague rubbed his eyes.
"Don't get cheeky, young man," the detective said with faked anger.
Kyle just laughed and sat down in front of his friend, placing a box with burgers and coffee on his table. "I thought you might be hungry, too," he said.
Darryl smiled: "Thanks." And so they both had their lunch.
While they were eating the two men talked about all the things that came to their minds. They talked about the last case, the new Senator, the results of the last football game...
Then Darryl said: "By the way, I tried to call you last evening. I wanted to ask if you like to come over for a beer since Sheila was in theater with her friend and my son sleep at his friend's home."
Kyle grinned: "Yeah, sorry, I slept at Paige's..."
Darryl looked up from his burger. And when he finally managed to swallow down the bite he asked: "Again?" He knew that Kyle and Paige spent a lot of time together lately, but hadn't he just told him yesterday that he had stayed with her.
His friend meanwhile just nodded, with his mouth full of burger, too, so Darryl added: "You spend a lot of time in the manor lately."
Kyle grinned: "Not that much... only four nights this week, so far..."
Now Darryl coughed, surprised by his friend's words: "Five nights? You realised that we only have Friday, do you?" His friend just nodded smiling.

& & & & &

Back in the future...
Piper was pacing back and forth, worrying about Chris, past Chris. She laughed to herself at that thought. Just over twenty-three years ago, it had been future Chris. Time travel was just so confusing! But either way, he was still her son. She glanced over at Wyatt, Jim, Matthew and Kevin. Wyatt gave her a reassuring smile, as Jim kept Matthew and Kevin busy. Moments later, Piper's heart nearly jumped out of her chest as both Chrises orbed in.
"Thank God you're alright!" she said, with her hand to her heart, walking toward them. She quickly put her arms around the younger Chris, and pulled him into a hug. He was both stunned and relieved, feeling just like he had that day in the past when he'd first hugged her after she had found out who he was and finally trusted him. And just like that time, his heart was pounding. To see her alive and well, the way she should have been in his own time line, was overwhelming to say the least, but also heartwarming.
"I'm fine, Mom," he said, holding her a little longer, before pulling back and looking at everyone. Piper moved next to the older Chris then, took holed of his arm, and smiled proudly up at him. Kevin moved away from Matthew and Jim, and walked up to past Chris and lightly touched his arm, as if to see if he was really there.
"You are really my dad, aren't you?" he asked in his young voice, still a little confused.
Chris looked down at him and smiled. "Looks that way," he replied, reaching over to mess the young boy's hair, getting a giggle in return. Chris then looked over at his older self, a serious expression transforming his face. "So how do I get back to my time?"
Just then, a set of blue-white orbs started to appear nearby and formed into Leo. An older looking Leo. It didn't take Leo long to realize something wasn't right. He looked from one face to the other, and stopped on the younger Chris.
"Dad! Your hair! It's turning white!" Chris said shocked, before Leo could open his mouth to speak. This statement caused Leo to laugh, and he knew he'd been right about him.
"Yes, it is getting a little grey," he admitted, smiling broadly. Everyone else was trying to stifle their laughter, and the tension no one had sensed building, was broken.
"But, I thought you would always look young. So how is that possible?" Chris stammered.
Leo absently ran his fingers through his graying dark blonde hair. "Chris, do you remember when I first became an Elder?" Leo asked, looking at his time traveling son.
"Yeah," he said in an embarrassed tone, his cheeks turning red at the memory.
Leo smiled at his embarrassment, despite himself. "Do you remember, that when I came back down for the first time, I had a few white hairs?" He asked, regaining his composure.
"Yeah," Piper said, sounding a little annoyed, despite the smile on her face. Chris blushed even more at this. Even the elder Chris was starting to blush. The two young boys were listening intently, looking from one adult to the other. Wyatt and Jim stood by, silently, taking it all in.
"I told your mother then that I must have spent too much time up there. But in reality, it was a preview of what was to come. Even though Elders, like Kings, can be any age, eventually they must grow older. It gives them a more distinguished, wiser look. Though we will never die, we also won't ever look like we just walked out of a grave. But, I'm afraid, the cost of looking wise requires grey hair. And I didn't want Piper to feel like she was growing older by herself, so I sped up the process," Leo explained. He looked at the two boys, a smile creeping onto his lips, and winked.
"And I'm, you're, just getting old," the older Chris said, teasing his younger counterpart. Past Chris had to laugh at that.
"Now it's my turn. What are you doing here, Chris?" Leo asked, looking for the explanation this time.
"I wish I knew," Chris replied, bewildered.
"But..." Leo began.
"Ask your other son," Piper said, looking at Wyatt. Leo looked over to him, surprised.
"It was Christopher. Jim and I went up to the attic to check something in the book, and found him there. He was mumbling about the sword or something, then he disappeared," Wyatt explained, as he moved closer.
"We didn't know anything was really wrong until we came down here with Aunt Piper, and saw Chris," Jim added, feeling a little ashamed for not stopping Christopher.
"So how do I get back?" Chris asked again, looking at Leo. "Can Hope bring me back, and get Christopher?"
Just then, more orb lights formed a few feet away, and a voice could be heard. "Did I hear my name?" the woman asked even before she was fully formed.
"Hope!" Chris said, when he saw his grown up daughter.
"Uncle Christoph... Chris? Dad?" She said, shocked. Her young father smiled at her sheepishly. She quickly glanced at her older father, who gave her a similar smile. "What's going on here?"
"That's what we are trying to figure out, Hope," Leo answered her. Then he turned his attention to Wyatt. "Tell me again what happened when you saw Christopher in the attic."
"He was chanting something. He was talking too low for me to get most of it. But it did sound like a spell," Wyatt recounted, wishing he had heard what Christopher has said.
"And then you came down here and found Chris?" Leo probed.
"Yes," Wyatt confirmed.
Leo thought for a moment. Something sounded vaguely familiar to him. Christopher casts a spell, and now he's in the past and Chris is in the future... "I think he cast a switching spell," he concluded after a minute, and a little pacing.
"A switching spell?" Piper said, baffled.
"I'm sure you remember how many times a switching spell has been cast on us?" Leo said, smiling at the memories.
"You mean when our powers were switched? Or my pregnancy syndromes?" she asked, chuckling at the second one, her kids looking at her puzzled. "Or when Phoebe switched places with her past life? Or when Paige switched bodies with Phoebe? Or those three blondes stole our identities?" she pointed out.
"Or when the baby was switched to me..." Leo added, trying not to laugh. Both Chrises, Wyatt, Hope and Jim looked at Leo, dumbfounded. Matthew and Kevin looked rather grossed out, their faces scrunched in disgust at the thought of Leo being pregnant. Piper couldn't help but laugh at that. "But yeah, that's what I mean. But it looks like, this time, Christopher and Chris switched times, instead of bodies or powers."
"But what does that mean? And will Hope be able to bring us back to our own times?" Chris asked, after a moment to compose himself. Since he had been there for his own birth, he knew the baby they had meant had been Wyatt. And the thought that his father had carried Wyatt, even for a short time, was disconcerting.
"No, she won't be able to. Since it was a spell that switched you in the first place, the only way back is for the magic to run its course, or the spell to be reversed." Leo said, feeling sorry for Chris.
"That explains why I can't leave the timeline at the moment..." Hope mumbled to herself, without anybody noticing it.
"Great! And since Wyatt and Jim didn't hear what Christopher said, I can't reverse the spell," Chris said, feeling helpless.
"Unfortunately, it looks like only Christopher can reverse it," Leo said, compassionately.

& & & & &

Back in our time...
"Piper, what's going on?" Leo asked even before he was completely materialised. And as soon as he took a look at his wife, he knew something must be wrong, since the worry and distress was clearly readable in Piper's eyes. She was standing in the empty nursery, and that worried Leo even more.
"Wyatt and Chris, I can't find them. I don't..."
"Shhhh..." Leo went over to her and pulled her into a hug to make her calm down. He wouldn't find out what's going on when she panicked. Then he separated a little from her to look her in the eyes and said: "Tell me what happened."
Piper tried to calm down, but was hardly able to. "I was finishing lunch and I wanted to pick up the boys. I went to the attic to get Chris since I heard something from the room... But no one was there. So I came here and found Bianca who told me that Wyatt orbed away, saying 'Chris' before he left. And..." She started sobbing by now. "And I called for them and... they didn't come... and.. I don't know Leo, I just feel that something is wrong. I just feel it."
"Where is Bianca now?" Leo asked now worried on his own.
"Downstairs, with the kids... I told her to go and prepare everything since I didn't want her to worry, too," his wife replied.
The Elder sighed and pulled her close again, rubbing her back in circles to calm her down. Even if he knew there wasn't much anyone could do to calm down a worried mother, especially one of the kind like Piper. And while he hugged his wife he tried to sense for his boys, worried on his own...
But then he sighed relieved and pulled away from his wife to look at her again: "Please, stop worrying, they are fine. Wyatt is up there and Chris seems to be, too. Through his signal is a little foggy, but it is him, I'm sure..."
"Are you really sure?" Piper asked, desperate.
Leo nodded and hugged her again, tightly.
Right that moment bluish orbing lights filled the room again, making the couple separate and raise their heads.
"Mommy?" Wyatt asked as soon as he saw the tears on her face.
"Wyatt..." Piper breathed out and ran over to him and Chris(topher) to pick up the small boy and hold him close.
"What happened?" the older of the brothers asked, through he had a small idea of what had been going on while they had visited Odin.
"Nothing," Leo smiled, "Piper was just worried, because she couldn't find you... And I guess with the increasing demon activity lately she overreacted a little."
That was when the woman turned to them sharply, addressing both men: "I did NOT overreact... And I still have the feeling that something's wrong here... And Chris, why did your father say your signal is foggy when he tried to sense for you?"
Chris(topher) looked from one to the other. He had talked about this problem with Odin. His magical signature was the same as the one of the baby, but - even if they should be the same person, kind of- his signature was different from Chris'. So Odin used some of his magic to mask his signal. But how should he explain that now. "Well," he started, "I guess maybe this has something to do with the demon I ran into earlier... But I doubt it is anything worth worrying about..." And he surprised himself how easily it worked to lie at his parents right now, while in his own time he wasn't able to do that. But it was probably like Chris had once said: "When you're not in your own time, some things seem to be easier to do... especially when it comes to lying to the people you love. But even so, it won't make it easier for yourself."
Christopher was still lost in his thoughts when a sentence from Piper made his worries increase again, drastically.
"Well, ok... but now you should come down with us for lunch. Your wife is already down there with your daughter and Christopher," Piper said.
'Wife?' Christopher thought. 'Daughter?' Inside he felt like falling into a deep black hole. 'Oh no... I can't play the loving husband...' What if she wanted to kiss him... or even worse what if she wanted to... 'Don't go there, Christopher,' he told himself, 'don't go there!' Sighing he followed his parents out of the attic and down the stairs, all the while desperately trying to find a way to get out of this as soon as possible.


(Chapter 2 written by Chrissy.W.x, Belen and Kirianna Ledräen)