Not my first FanFiction, but certainly the first of 'Charmed'. I'm going to give my best shot at this and I must warn you that English is not my mother tongue so mistakes will be made.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. At least that's what the therapist says…

Summary: Season six. Chris has a tough time dealing with his family's distrust, with his memories and with the constant threat against his brother. But what happens when a stranger from the future comes along? And what are his real intentions? Set after 'Chris-Crossed' and 'Prince Charmed'.

Note: Thank you for all your reviews! They mean a lot to me.

AJ, if you're reading this, know that you'll learn more about M.J. along the way.

Warning: I won't update unless I receive at least 10 reviews.

Secrets revealed

By Amantine

Last time…

"I've done things I'm not proud of", Christopher finally decided to say as he stood up with the tomes and slowly started walking towards the desk where he gently placed them. "Besides, there's only so much you can tell without the future being changed too much".

Noticing how this was a difficult subject for the young Witchlighter M.J. decided not to push matters further and found himself contempt with just closing his eyes and blocking out the sounds coming from the lively P3.

'Maybe I'll ask him more tomorrow', he thought, a smile crossing his lips as his senses finally began to numb, a sign that sleep was finally overcoming him.

Chapter 4: Sleepless, tired and… deceived?

Chris collapsed on the stuffy old couch in the backroom of his mother's club and let out an exhausted sigh the moment the whole damn place finally fell quiet… At 3.30 in the morning! He looked at M.J. for a split second and held his tongue to prevent himself from saying a spell to get payback for the fact that the young man managed sleep through the entire night, in spite of the music coming from the band, while he had to work on getting leads to who turned Wyatt in his future.

'Well he is my brother. Might as well suffer the consequences…' he reasoned with himself.

Taking a deep breath, Chris used his telekinesis to switch off the lamp and welcomed the darkness which now flooded the room. Within the minute the Witchlighter fell asleep, praying for a night without nightmares.

'Chris!'

Chris stirred slightly in his sleep.

'Chris! C'mon… We need you!'

Christopher groaned and turned on his stomach, covering his head with his pillow as he did so, vainly attempting to block out the Charmed Ones' voices.

'Chris!'

The half-breed's eyes snapped open. He slowly crawled out from under the covers and drowsily glanced at the glowing numbers from the digital clock which currently resided on the desk. Unable to read the figures properly, Chris rubbed his eyes trying to clear the fog which blinded him and groaned in frustration as he finally managed to read the hour. 4.47 a.m.. Unbelievable!

'CHRIS!'

And there it was again… Phoebe's nagging voice in the back of his mind, demanding his presence at the manor -in the middle of the night no less- was not what he wished for!

Looking longingly at M.J.'s sleeping form for a moment, Chris sighed and dematerialized only to end up seconds later in the manor's attic, where the whole household was currently buzzing around the Book of Shadows or the scrying map.

"What's going on?" he inquired after he fully reformed, stiffening a yawn as he did so, earning himself a pointed look from a very pissed off Piper.

"What's going on", she answered sharply, "is that a couple of demons attacked".

Suddenly wide awake and very alert, Chris scanned the room and it's occupants for any possible damage. "Is everyone okay? Did anybody get hurt?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah, we're fine. Piper blew one demon and the other shimmered out before we could vanquish it. We got off with a few bruises and scratches, but Leo healed them", Paige filled in with a grumpy voice.

"Anyway, we need you to take Wyatt for a couple of hours, while we summon and vanquish the demon", Piper spoke in a sweet don't-you-dare-say-anything-against-it-or-I'll-blow-you-to-China tone.

The Witchlighter let out a nervous laugh and looked at the eldest Charmed One as if she had grown an extra head. "You want me to what?"

"I want you to take Wyatt to P3 and look after him", Piper said once more through gritted teeth.

Unfortunately, Chris had inherited his mother's temper and he was tired and cranky and he did not care about being blown to smithereens at the moment, all of the above being the main reasons for why he decided to pick a fight with Piper.

"I am not your babysitter! Get someone else to do it for you!" he lashed out, widely gesturing with his arms, uselessly trying to emphasize his nonexistent point in Piper's view.

"Well, Chris, I would get somebody else if it wasn't 5 o'clock in the morning and the demon wasn't possibly after my son. Besides, you're here to protect him, so protect him!" Piper rigidly spoke, eyeing her Whitelighter from head to toe, making the young man squirm slightly under her piercing gaze.

"Get Leo to do it. Wyatt's his kid too", Chris suggested, his voice sounding harsher than he'd intended.

"I can't… I have to stay here and help the sisters in case the demon attacks again", the Elder explained.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't I stay and help? I'm part witch, I can cast spells or scry or even make potions…", Chris began but Piper shortly cut him off.

"You can't heal", she stated simply and the Witchlighter froze in mid-sentence, his mouth remaining agape, a strange combination of shock and anger crossing his face.

"This is ridiculous!" he stated after he recovered.

"Well at least orb him to M.J. and ask him to baby-sit Wyatt if you won't do it", Phoebe spoke for the first time since he had orbed into the manor.

"What? No way! I'm not leaving him alone in the same room with the kid!" Christopher vehemently protested, outraged at the mere thought.

"And why not? He's here to protect Wyatt too", Paige argued.

"Maybe, but I don't trust him enough to let him around Wyatt unsupervised", Chris explained in an are-you-kidding-me tone and Leo arched an eyebrow regarding his future son with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.

"Well someone has to take care of him…", Phoebe pointed out.

Chris looked with pleading eyes from one member of his family to the other and wasn't all surprised to see that none took pity on him.

"Alright, fine!" he finally caved in, sighing as he did so.

"Good!" Piper chirped and got the toddler's stuff from the playpen along with Wyatt himself and placed them in Chris's rather unwelcoming arms. "Now remember he's had his diaper changed and he'll be a little cranky 'cause he's had his sleep interrupted. You have some of his clothes in the bag in case he gets cold and…".

"Whoa, whoa, Piper, slow down! It's not like I'm going to have to baby-sit him for a long time. He's coming back here at 8.00 o'clock sharp and you'd better have that demon vanquished by then", Chris interrupted before orbing out, Wyatt in tow.

After the Charmed Ones were certain that Chris was out of hearing range, Phoebe burst into a fit of laughter.

"The M.J. bait worked like a charm. No pun intended", she managed to say between giggles.

"You did it on purpose?" Paige inquired, still more than half asleep.

"Of course!" Phoebe said in a proud demeanor. "Did you doubt me?"

"No. But I do think he's going to be pissed when he finds out you played him", Piper spoke from the potions table where she was currently mixing some mandrake root in a cauldron.

"Do you think he's going to find out?" Phoebe asked with a nervous laugh.

Her sisters and ex-brother in law's looks told her the answer, making her slap her forehead in annoyance. "He's so going to kill me…".

Christopher orbed into P3 and set Wyatt's bag on the floor, telekinetically switching on the lights as he did so, waking up a very cranky M.J. in the process.

"What's going on?" he mumbled, shading his eyes from the bright light coming from the lamp.

"Nothing. Go back to bed", Chris whispered, bouncing Wyatt around, trying to make him close his eyes and fall asleep.

M.J. stood up on one side, supporting his weight on his right elbow as he did so, and took in the scene before him, only half awake. Suddenly realizing what was going on, his eyes widened in shock and he jumped off his bed, throwing the covers onto the floor as he did so.

"What's he doing here?" he asked in confusion, yet having the grace to keep his voice down seeing as the child's eyes were slowly closing.

"The sisters needed a baby-sitter so they could go after a demon and I literally got stuck with this bundle of joy", Chris explained in a not so friendly tone, the lack of sleep making him grouchy.

M.J. snorted and glanced at the watch. "It's 5 a.m.!" he complained, slightly raising his voice.

"Like I said, I got stuck with him", Chris snapped through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with annoyance and anger.

M.J. rolled his eyes and waved a hand, a baby cot appearing in the middle of the room, complete with blanket and mattress.

'Personal gain!' Chris mouthed seeing as his little big brother finally fell asleep.

The conjurer merely shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving Chris alone to put the kid into his bed. Sighing tiredly after setting the child down, Chris knelt beside the crib and stretched his hand through the bars, running a hand through Wyatt's golden hair, a genuine smile crossing his lips as he thought about the weirdness of the situation. Normally it would have been the other way around, Wyatt watching over Chris as he slept and brushing away bangs of hair from his face.

"What ever happened to you, Wyatt?" Chris asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Knowing perfectly well that he wouldn't be receiving an answer that night, Chris stood up and silently left the room, leaving the door ajar so he could hear if anything happened to his brother.

Yawning and stretching his sore arm, Chris dragged himself towards the bar where M.J. was currently drinking a glass of orange juice. The Witchlighter plopped down on the nearest chair and eyed the drink suspiciously.

"Did you conjure that too?" he asked, placing his head on his arms as he spoke.

"Sure did", came the short and somehow amused reply.

Chris sighed, clearly not having the energy to go on and on and on about the consequences of magic, but doing it anyway. "Didn't you ever hear of 'personal gain'?"

"You seem to forget that we don't have that in the future…" M.J. stated, taking another sip from his drink.

Chris raised his head and looked his comrade in the eye, the familiar suppressed anger threatening to rise and overwhelm him once more.

"We're in the past! Magic has consequences here. You need to learn how to respect that and fast because if you don't, you can risk becoming like Wyatt and I can't handle two power-hungry maniacs. You were sent here with a mission and you are expected to fulfill it without abusing your gifts", Chris chastised, his tone dangerously similar to Piper's when she was mad.

M.J. opened his mouth, attempting to shoot back a biting remark, but found himself closing it, unable to find any words. Chris just nodded satisfied and once more placed his head on his arms, closing his eyes, as he tried to rest a little.

"How much sleep did you get?" M.J. finally asked, aiming for an amiable conversation.

"'Bout an hour and a half", Chris answered truthfully, his voice soft and distant.

M.J. looked at the Whitelighter and couldn't help contain the amused chuckle which escaped his lips. He took one more swig from his glass and made it disappear with a wave of his hand, getting up from his chair as he did so.

"Chris…"

No answer.

"Christopher", he tried once more.

Again, no answer. Both amused and concerned M.J. noticed that the younger of the two had fallen asleep in the most uncomfortable position.

'That's gonna smart when he gets up', he thought before letting out a loud sigh, shaking his head in disapproval.

With gentle moves he pulled the Witchlighter's shoulders back, leaning him against his arm carefully and placing Chris's head on his own shoulder. He swung his other arm beneath the Whitelighter's knees and prudently lifted him up, amazed to see how light the twenty-two year old was.

M.J. walked towards their room and squinted his eyes looking at the door, making it open without a squeak. Entering, he strode towards the couch and gently laid Chris on it, conjuring a blanket over him and brushing away a few stray locks from the Whitelighter's face, frowning as he felt the unusual heat radiating from his forehead.

Sighing, M.J. turned his attention towards the toddler who was intensely watching him with large, sky-blue eyes from his cot. He moved towards the toddler and looked at him, a nervous smile playing on his lips. 'This is so weird', he thought as he stretched his arm, wanting to caress the child's blonde locks, but was surprised to see Wyatt dissipate in a flurry of bright jingling orbs, only to see him reappear seconds later on Chris's chest, his little hands gripping the blanket tightly as his eyes closed.

Smiling, M.J. grabbed the child's blanket and covered him with it before leaving the room with two large books through which Chris was looking the night before, closing the door behind him as he did so.

As soon as the door was closed, M.J. lifted his hand as if preparing to conjure something, but stopped halfway, Chris's words echoing through his head. 'Personal gain… Can't handle two power-hungry maniacs…'. Smiling, he allowed his hand to fall along his side and he slowly sat on the cement floor, his legs crossed underneath him, with his back leaning against the wall for support.

He opened the first tome and began looking through it, yet not quite seeing the pages as he went. His mind was mostly on how drastically Chris had changed since he'd last seen him. What mostly surprised him was the fact that Christopher hadn't recognized him. Maybe the whole time travel thing confused him too much… M.J. didn't have an answer. What had happened to Chris was beyond him.

M.J. remembered how Chris was at the beginning, before and a while after Wyatt became Lord Wyatt for the Underworld. He had been happy, or as happy as one could get after holding his mother in his arms as she died. Chris had been contempt… Until he was kidnapped a while after. What had suddenly changed after that was something nobody understood, but it had something to do with Wyatt's crave for power, no doubt about that.

Chris, in seven years, had matured and changed beyond recognition. He was no longer reckless, but analyzed every detail of his plans. He helped form the Resistance and even led it for a couple of months before the word went out that he was… is a Halliwell. He left the top position for another and left the base for three years before coming to their aid during one huge battle between the concepts of Good and Evil. M.J. remembered how he showed up and fought against his own flesh and blood, in spite of his own injuries, caused by two whole years in the Underworld, trapped by the Dlive demons. But what he wondered most was how in the world Chris allowed himself to get so messed up. There was no stronger bond that family for him and that was exactly what he went against.

TBC…