AN I: Hello, sorry for the long delay in updates. Real life has been exhausting and nauseatingly selfish in its demands! Any whoo; I own nothing but the mistakes, this is unbeta'd, so I wasn't lying when I claimed the mistakes. I'm sure there are quite a few. Please enjoy and don't hesitate to review and tell me what you think!
Chris fought his way back to consciousness slowly, one exhausted inch at a time. He knew, the minute he opened his eyes, the sisters would pounce. He also knew he wouldn't be able to orb for a while, not until his natural magical energy built back up.
So, he'd be stuck. Powerless.
In his childhood home, that wasn't his home, with his family, that wasn't his family, and with people who hated him… awesome.
The last time he'd been this depleted… Well, it hadn't been fun then either and it had taken him forever to regain his natural power. It was why he tried to avoid using his basic and most pure magic. He'd always downplayed his power, preferring to strengthen his analytical prowess, practice his potions making and spell casting. He had plenty of power at his fingertips from his Halliwell and Whitelighter stock without dipping into the uncharted territory that was his and Wyatt's unique gifts.
Wyatt however reveled in it. The current source of evil had practiced and harnessed his gifts until he could maintain and use them without enduring the physical and mental toll Chris always seemed to pay. Figures. Course, Wyatt was too selfish to give wholly of himself which probably explained why his stores were never rock bottom depleted.
Chris was adept at playing possum, it was a skill that came in handy his whole life. Whether it was jumping into bed and pretending to be asleep so he and Wyatt wouldn't get caught playing orb and seek after bedtime, or lying among the helpless carnage he's been unable to prevent hoping he looked dead enough to not get dead. He used it now, to avoid the interrogation he knew was brewing. And boy was it ever.
Chris kept his eyes closed, fluttering softly every now and again to mimic REM sleep. He allowed his breath to flow in out slowly and evenly. And he listened.
The sisters were nothing if not predictable.
"Why isn't he waking up yet Leo?" This from Paige. Chris found it hilarious that she was impatient in whatever timeline she was in.
"I don't know Paige; he needs time to rest and regenerate. He just needs time," Leo finished wearily. Chris could picture his father perfectly; golden robes impeccable, not a hair out of place, but his elegant fingers were probably pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a unique headache, he'd often claimed only Chris had ever given him.
"Remember, when he wakes up, we need to thank him for saving us. Especially since we called him down here and put him in danger in the first place." Phoebe's soft tones came from somewhere around the top of Chris's head and he imagined her gentle heart was pressing her to sit close, ready to offer him moral support when he woke up. Chris was counting on her good nature in helping to facilitate him getting out of the manor in one piece.
He could hear the quiet hum of crystals and tried not to let it hurt him, knowing that the sisters distrusted Chris so much that they had cast him in a captive crystal circle.
But it did.
Chris could hear more huffing, and pacing, and dramatic sighs. The sisters weren't known for their patience after all. But the one person he didn't hear was the one he was waiting for most of all. Piper wasn't one to be quiet, so where the hell was she?
It wasn't until Paige spoke again that Chris realized where Piper was.
"Is Piper done putting Wyatt down because I think we should wake Chris up. He's slept long enough."
"Nah," answered Phoebe, "she's not so much putting Wyatt down as trying to smother him with love until the memories of today go away. I mean imagine if he'd been in the house."
"Nobody better hurt my nephew," muttered Paige darkly.
"And nobody will," reaffirmed Leo, "especially if they're an annoying white lighter from the future with huge hidden power."
"Wyatt is safe, Leo." Phoebe's voice changed directions and Chris knew that she had moved over to Leo, offering him comfort as they all worried about Wyatt. He felt cold in her absence, even though she had been outside the circle; she'd at least been there.
He wanted to shout I was in the house too; I'm your nephew too. But he didn't. Chris bit the inside of his lip and was ashamed to feel a burning pressure build behind his eyelids. I thought I was all done with tears, he thought, willing them not to fall.
His limbs still felt heavy and exhausted, his heart beat sluggishly against his ribs. Chris could taste the metallic bite of blood against his thick and swollen tongue. He knew he needed to wake up and deal with the sisters and Leo, but everything felt rusty and distant.
He wondered how long he could pretend to sleep.
He heard her moving into the room first, her steps light and measured, and as familiar to him as his own. This wasn't his mother, this was Piper, he kept trying to tell himself; but it was hard. She sounded the same, looked the same, and even smelled the same, and all of it made Christ want to forget his mission, leave behind the memories of the terrible future, and crawl right into his mom's arms. If it was his mother, she'd hug him, ruffle his hair, and call him peanut. She's help Chris to figure out what was wrong with the future and she would right it; and then maybe Chris's shoulders wouldn't have to buckle and break under the strain of the of the whole freaking world.
But she wasn't his mother, not yet, maybe not ever.
"Wake him up Leo," Piper's voice was hard and determined; a mother bear protecting her cub. "I want to talk to him now! I want the truth now! And then I want to remove this threat out of my home and away from my son!" With each statement Piper's voice grew a little louder and a little colder. Chris could almost hear the restraint she was employing in trying not to blow him up, the room practically vibrated with it.
"I don't know what you expect me to do Piper; he'll wake when he's ready." Leo's voice was exasperated. Not the picture perfect elder are we now Leo, thought Chris.
"Maybe there's a spell to wake someone," suggested Phoebe.
"Yeah, we can check the book," remarked Paige. "Maybe a potion…" Her voice trailed off and the sound of pages flipping could be heard instead.
"I don't care how we get the truth, but one way or another, we are going to find out who Chris Perry is," muttered Piper.
"Ohh," murmured Paige excitedly, "here is a spell to dream walk into someone else's dreams. That could be exciting."
"What are the ingredients," asked Piper.
"Guys, I suggest waking him, not go traipsing through his brain. Don't you think that's a gross invasion of privacy, he saved us remember," reiterated Phoebe.
"Oh stuff it Pheebs, this is for Wyatt," came Piper's voice.
This was getting out of hand. Chris really hadn't thought they'd resort to torture or spells, yet here they were gathering ingredients. If you can face down an army of demons and your sadistic evil older brother then this should be cake, Chris tried to tell himself.
Chris swallowed and moaning a little with the effort, opened his eyes. His muscles screamed in protest, every nerve ending in his body frayed and angry, but somehow he managed to wiggle and worm into a seated position within the circle. He was trying really hard to ignore the fact that hours ago he'd saved the sisters from captivity in a crystal circle, and now they put him into one.
"Hey, guys," Chris's voice was rusty, the words grating together like jagged shards of broken glass. Four heads with identical looks of suspicion and shock snapped around to meet his gaze.
And it begins, thought Chris.
AN II: Thank you for reading and bearing though with me over the long wait for updates. Please review, for some reason this chapter was really hard to get out and I'd love to hear your thoughts!
