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The silence in the darkness was deafening. Chris wondered what was going through their minds. The son and nephew they knew now, the beautiful blonde baby with giant blue eyes and a smile that could melt hearts, couldn't be evil. Chris had always found it difficult to mould baby Wyatt and adult Wyatt into one, but there was something in baby Wyatt that there had once been in his Wyatt. An innocence, a sense of hope, that reminded Chris never to give up.
He took a deep breath and decided to face this. No more lies – they wanted the truth then they would get it.
"I don't understand." Piper's voice was low and shaky. She was obviously in shock.
"What's not to get? Wyatt is evil."
"You're lying!" Piper said, glaring at Chris.
He couldn't stop the eye-roll. "Memories can't lie – it's a truth spell, remember?" Chris looked at them. They looked scared and defeated. "I'm sorry. Listen, I didn't come back to stop an evil from killing Wyatt. Wyatt is the evil I came back to stop. Something happened to him that turned him."
Piper looked at the floor. Her face was blank, showing no emotions but Chris knew her too well. She was in denial, but she believed him. And it broke her heart that her little boy could become the man she had just seen.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want you to know."
"You should have told us Chris! Is it any wonder, after all the lies, that we don't trust you?" Asked Phoebe, face twisted.
Chris took a shaky breath before replying, "Well, you know now."
"Why was it you that came back, and not one of us or some future relative? What makes you so special?"
Chris stared at Paige in horror. She had asked three questions, all of which would reveal things about the future that they could not know.
Paige slapped a hand over her mouth, looking apologetic.
Leo looked over the sisters, speaking in his 'elder' voice, "Maybe you should stop asking questions? The less we know about the future, the better."
Chris wondered when he'd changed his tune. One minute, the man hated him and distrusted him, and now he was standing up him and trying to keep the future secret?
He'd never understood Leo. The man had a perfect family, a loving wife and 3 beautiful children, yet he spent all of his time away in Elder-land, doing god knows what while his family spent their lives missing him and regretting him not being there. Chris had lived most of his life without a family, and knew what it was like to miss a parent because they weren't there.
As light descended on them, Chris turned to the sisters and cried, "Cast a spell to end this nightmare!"
"What don't you want us to find out, Chris?" Piper looked at him, suspicious. Always suspicious, and wary and untrusting even though he'd protected Wyatt many times.
"It's not supposed to happen like this! You shouldn't know things before it's supposed to happen. It could change the future in worse ways!" Chris looked at Piper, panic flooding him. His biggest fear was that he and Wyatt would never meet, or that Wyatt would end up with someone else.
The sisters looked at each other. "He's right." Paige grumbled, looking like a big kid who couldn't have cake. Chris could understand how tempting it was to know about the future, but he knew how dangerous it would be for them to know any of his secrets.
It was too late, of course. This memory had already started.
"Get writing!" he muttered to them, before looking at his surroundings. They were stood in a grey room, which Chris recognised as the meeting room from the resistance.
He suddenly knew what memory this was, and cringed at what would be revealed.
His double was sat lazily at a table, around which sat many other members of the resistance. They were debating something; some of the older members looked angry.
"Let's be frank, shall we? Chris is the only one who can go back. He is the strongest person in this resistance, he knows Wyatt best, and he's the only one in this room who won't just go back and stick a knife in the kid's heart!"
Horrified, disgusted gasps and shouts came from around the table. One voice was raised, "That is not true. Half of the people in this room love and care for Wyatt. How dare you suggest that we would ever try to hurt him? That is half of the reason he has been able to grow so big – we are unable to destroy him!"
"Mel is right." Chris heard the four with him gasp as they saw Future Paige sitting around the table. "The reason he has lasted so long is because we cannot kill him. But Sirk is right; Chris has the strongest connection." Paige looked at Chris then. "You can do this honey. I know you, and I believe you can do this."
Paige looked at him then, but Chris avoided her gaze.
"Then it's decided. Chris will go back and stop whatever evil turned Wyatt. Dismissed."
The room cleared, except for Mel, Paige, Chris and a couple of the other younger people. Chris stood and started pacing.
"I don't know about this." He said to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear.
Paige stood in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "Chris, listen to me. There is no one on this entire planet that I trust Wyatt's life with more than you. You are the most determined, straight minded, honest person I know. You are also one of the strongest. You know our history, you know our magic, and you have fought by our side. You can do this."
Chris bowed his head. "But what if I fail?"
"Then we have lost nothing, and we know that we have tried. We know that we sent the best person for the job back to try and fix this. You are a truly a Halliwell at heart and in name. Never forget that."
Chris smiled and nodded. "Thanks mom." Paige grinned at him, and hugged him close.
"Mom?"
Chris continued avoiding Paige's gaze.
Mel spoke up then, sounding like the immature brat she had been at that time. "Don't call her that, Chris. She's not your mom, and she never has been!"
"Shut up, Melly! You're just jealous!" yelled a small child at the back. She had long brown hair and was the spitting image of Phoebe. She had been 8 at the time, and Phoebe's youngest.
Chris saw Phoebe perk up then. She recognised her child.
"Whatever, Pales. I'm just saying it how it is." She glared at Chris, who walked over and grabbed her, tickling her.
"Sis, why must you be so cruel?" He grinned when she screamed.
"Aunt Paige! Make him stop." She was laughing so hard that they could barely make out her words. Suddenly, her laughter turned to tears and she grabbed onto Chris, hugging him tight.
"I'm going to miss you. Please don't get killed, I cannot lose anyone else."
Chris remembered holding her, trying to stop her trembling.
Chris hugged her back tightly, burying his face in her hair. "I'll try. But you need to be strong. You have to look after Piper for me."
Chris closed his eyes, feeling his heart pang. The others looked at him confused, but he couldn't look at anyone or anything. He pushed the feeling away, with a lot of effort.
"I will. Good luck." She let go of him and walked out of the room without even a glance back.
Chris turned back to Paige then. She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You should get back to him before he realises you're gone." Chris nodded, but he didn't move.
Paige let out a sob, before grabbing Chris. She held onto him tightly before pulling away and bringing herself together.
She took a deep breath, speaking shakily, "We won't trust you. It doesn't matter what you say. You'll have to pretend to be a Whitelighter. Go back to when the titans attacked – you know the story right?" Chris nodded. "Phoebe and I were turned to stone, but we were saved. Go back to that time and save Phoebe before she gets turned. Tell them that I died that day. If they think you saved me, they will at least let you in. You'll have to get Leo out of the way somehow so they have no choice but to make you their Whitelighter. Don't tell them anything. You are a Whitelighter from the future there to save Wyatt only. Nothing else, got it?" Paige spoke so quickly, Chris barely caught it all. He nodded, feeling both scared and excited.
"I'm not a Whitelighter, though. What if they ask why I can't heal?"
"It took me a while to learn. Just tell them it takes some a while to do it." Replied Paige, stroking a hand through his hair. She looked scared. Chris didn't remember seeing her look so scared.
Chris remembered being excited at the thought of seeing Piper and Phoebe again. That excitement had faded almost as soon as he had arrived in the past. The sisters from 2003 were nothing like the ones he had known. They cared about themselves and Wyatt only. Their Wiccan duties came second, always.
In his time, he was brought up knowing that he had a destiny to fulfil, they all did, and that it could not be ignored. When they put their Wiccan duties behind their personal life, people got killed. They had learnt that the hard way.
As Chris orbed, the darkness descended once again.
He took a deep breath and looked towards the charmed ones, praying they wouldn't question any of this. Especially Piper. He couldn't handle them questioning him about Piper.
"You called me Mom. You called Melly 'sis', and Melly called me Aunt Paige. That doesn't make sense."
They all nodded, confused. Chris simply shrugged – there was no way he would explain that to them.
"Chris, you need to start talking. You cannot just leave these things up in the air." Piper was looking at him with suspicion again. Chris hated when she did that and now she knew that he could be trusted. Apparently, something was telling her not to. That did make sense since they were missing the most important detail here – that he was practically married to Wyatt and had been inserted into the Halliwell family a long time ago.
"No, I don't. You three did this – this is your fault. Fix it. Now."
He turned away from them, trying to clear his head. It was a difficult task, to say the least.
"Does anyone remember what we did to the original spell?" Asked Phoebe.
The memory of the sisters casting the spell on him played out in front of their eyes, making Chris clench his teeth in annoyance. He couldn't believe they had caged him!
Paige spoke up first. "Why didn't that work? The spell said quite clearly, one memory."
"I don't know. More importantly, how do we reverse it?" Piper replied.
"Maybe more important is, where are we? Inside Chris' head?" Phoebe said. Chris had to wonder the same thing. He doubted they were all in his head, though.
A memory played then, surprising him. He did not know the answer to Phoebe's question.
Instead of a normal scene, they saw the underworld. One demon – human looking with dark skin and what looked like a very expensive suit – was talking directly to them. Chris' insides twisted with realisation.
"Hello Charmed ones and the Whitelighter. How do you like my little trick? Fun, huh? Your minds are stuck in this lovely little memory spell, while your bodies are free for anyone's taking where you left them. Of course, I did a little bit of my own witch craft and made it so you were stuck in the spell until I let you out. That, of course, will be when you're dead."
He laughed then, and started pacing.
"I had been watching you. You were all very entertaining, worried about your little baby boy and the big scary whitelighter from the future. So I planted a little idea in all of your heads – cast the truth spell on him, but alter it so you can see his memories. I have no idea what you're seeing, but the spell will escalate until you see everything you want to know. Not that it will matter, for you will be dead before you can see too many."
He stopped and looking directly at them with a sinister smile on his face. "And that is when I shall find little Wyatt and turn him to my side, and raise him to be the Source of all Evil. And a powerful source he will be."
The scene went dark then, and Chris couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding in his ears and his heavy breathing. This had not happened in the past. It was not an event he was aware of, at least. Had he changed the past too much by coming here, erasing the entire Charmed future?
"Is this how Wyatt turns evil?" Chris looked up at Leo in surprise. No, this was not. The Charmed ones had lived for many years yet.
"No. Wyatt grew up with you. As far as I know, this never happened." Chris was worried, which made the sisters and Leo frown.
"What do we do?" asked one of the sisters, but Chris blocked them out.
He searched for his connection with Wyatt – even before they found each other, Chris had had the connection. When he came to the past, he felt it with baby Wyatt as well. It was like a telepathic connection almost – they couldn't talk to each other but they could send thoughts and feeling to each other. Chris had in the past sent Wyatt words, as well.
Once he found the connection, he concentrated, chanting the same words over and over. "Help, Orb to attic, shield."
He felt something akin to 'OK' and breathed a slight breath of relief. At least they would be safe until the demons got through Wyatt's shield.
That was of course if Wyatt had understood him.
He refocused on the sisters and Leo and found they had written a spell to attempt to get them out of this situation.
"Wait. The demon said only he could end the spell. What if this backfires worse than before?" Chris asked, anxious to stop anything worse happening.
"Like what? We need to get back to Wyatt now!" Piper replied, looking scared. They all looked scared. Chris was scared too.
"I don't know. But we've already had one spell backfire because of what this demon did. What exactly does the spell do?"
"It uses the Power of Three, reverses our spell and reverses his spell. Of course."
"What does it say Piper?" Chris asked, frustrated.
"It calls upon our ancestors, then, 'Undo the spell that we cast, to reveal the truth of Chris' past, we call upon the halliwells, to undo the demons spell, return us now to our home, so Wyatt will not be alone.' "
Chris couldn't fault the spell Piper had read to him. Calling upon their ancestors made the spell very powerful.
The room lightened again and the demon was back. "By the way, your magic is useless because you are not in your bodies." He laughed and the room went black again.
They all swore. Chris thought a second, and then said, "Just try it. Maybe he's bluffing."
The sisters read the spell, but as the demon said, nothing happened at all. Chris looked around, they were beginning to panic. Chris was feeling a little less worried because he had hopefully contacted Wyatt.
"Wyatt is strong, and he has his protective bubble. He'll be fine." Chris said, trying to calm them.
"Right, and us? How are we safe?" asked Phoebe, pacing between the group.
Chris weighed the pros and cons of telling the truth. While the truth would lead to more questions, not telling them would cause them panic and stress. While Wyatt may not have received his message, it was likely, and telling them would give them some peace of mind.
"Look, Wyatt and I have a connection. You heard that in the last memory. The truth is that we have an almost telepathic connection. I can speak to him, although he cannot reply. I found the connection while we were hear and asked him to orb to the attic and put his shield up."
They looked at him. Chris couldn't decipher their expressions, so waited until someone spoke. It was Leo.
"What sort of connection? Why would you and Wyatt have any kind of connection? Who are you to us, anyway?"
Chris wondered if he had become resigned to the situation when he barely flinched at the questions. This was it, they would find out everything with these three questions.
Chris just hoped they were prepared.
"One of the best things about being a parent is finding out all about your children. Finding out who they are and what they will be. All of the surprises – the good and the bad. I suggest you stop asking questions if you wish to experience any of this in the future." He glared at Leo, and then the sisters, who all shifted nervously.
He understood their curiosity, and didn't even blame them for the situation they were in, but he did resent them for asking questions even though he had told them not to. Begged even.
The room lightened, and Chris recognised an alley. A swarm of demons was half way down.
Chris remembered this quite vividly. It was one of his most horrific memories, but also one of the best days of his life – the day everything changed.
Chris took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around himself. He saw the others look at him as he shifted, but ignored them.
The swarm of demons were crowded around a large rubbish bin. They were laughing and jostling something – obviously an innocent.
"Stop it, please." Cried a voice; young and male.
One of the demons replied, "You're a little succubus, aren't you? Male, as well. Never seen one in my life, but very much as powerful as your female counterparts."
"What? I don't know what that is. Just get off of me, leave me alone!" Cried the boy.
The demons hands went lower on the young male's body, and he tried to fight his way out.
From along the alley, they saw someone orb in. Piper gasped when she saw who – blonde hair, blue eyes, he looked just like his father. Wyatt ran down the alley to the demons, and yelled in a deep voice, "Get off of him!"
The demons were so shocked by the voice that they jumped away from the boy and looked over to Wyatt. Wyatt took the opportunity to throw them to the other side of the alley. He then proceeded to blow them up until they shimmered away.
Wyatt's attention then went to the boy. "Are you OK?"
The boy was looking at Wyatt in awe, looking terrified at the situation he had been in but very impressed by the show of magic. The boy nodded. "Who are you? How did you do that?"
"I'm Wyatt. I'm a witch – those were some of my powers. What's your name?"
"Chris. Christopher Perry. I'm a witch too." Chris stared at Wyatt for a couple more seconds before jumping at Wyatt, hugging him around the waist. "Thank you so much."
Wyatt wrapped his arms around the boy. "You're shaking. What did they want with you?"
Chris pulled away then, looking at the ground. He shrugged.
"Come on, I'll take you to my house until we know why you were attacked. You'll be safe there." Wyatt walked towards Chris, who backed away a little before he allowed Wyatt to pull him close. They orbed.
They appeared in the manor. Chris looked around wildly, seeing a large group of people in the sitting room, on the couches and other chairs. He backed away from them, asking Wyatt, "What are you? How did you do that?"
"I'm a Whitelighter. Well, half Whitelighter. That was Orbing, which is one of the powers a Whitelighter has."
Chris looked confused, and scared. "What's a Whitelighter?"
A/N: It's very difficult to write "Mom" and not "Mum".
I know there are even more holes now. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer them if I can, or put the answers in the story.