Chapter 4
Chris reappeared in the storage room-turned-bedroom and dropped onto the lumpy old couch with an exhausted sigh. He closed his eyes and took a moment to relax, slowly letting the tension ease out of his limbs. He didn't usually allow himself time for this, but few of his days in the past had been as rough as this one. And he knew it was far from over, which just made everything worse.
They wouldn't stop asking, Chris knew. They were the Charmed Ones, and even if they were different than the ones he'd known, even if they were younger and less experienced, they were still the same basic people. And they never backed down, especially when they were united in their beliefs.
He probably shouldn't have denied telling them about the demon, anyway. In fact, he really should have helped them, because something very bad was going on if demons knew he was changing the timeline. But he couldn't wrap his head around going after the monster that had haunted him for so long, that had taken away the most important person in his life.
And destroyed everything else as a result.
He bolted upright suddenly, heart pounding as something occurred to him. What if the demon came back? What if he figured out that he hadn't killed Piper and came back and—
Chris groaned and began to pace. He couldn't let himself think like that. Leo would be on the lookout, and the sisters would probably keep an eye on Piper too, especially if Phoebe was going to stick around the manor for a few days.
And what was Chris going to do, anyway? Stand guard outside her bedroom door? Follow her around like a lost puppy until someone figured out that hey, maybe he was a little too worried about Piper to just be her neurotic Whitelighter?
He had to disengage from this. He had to stop thinking of Piper as his mother, and Phoebe and Paige as his aunts, and Leo as his absent father. He had to get back to the aloofness he'd had in the beginning, the detachment that had allowed him to lie and manipulate them without guilt.
Or he could tell them the truth.
He stamped out that idea as soon as it entered his mind. No, he couldn't do that. He'd already burned his bridges, whether intentionally or not. He'd told them that his family was dead. He couldn't turn around now and say that they were his family, or by process of deduction they would realize things they shouldn't know.
And they really couldn't know. As much as he wanted to save them, he couldn't use his trip to the past for personal gain. It had been the only catch to the mission; his job was to save Wyatt and nothing more. Because if Piper was somehow meant to die when Chris was fourteen, and if Phoebe and Paige were meant to be killed less than a year after that, then stopping those deaths would lead to disastrous consequences. It was his job to fix one thing, to keep Wyatt good so that he wouldn't eventually force the world into darkness. Everything after that was up to fate.
Chris sat back down and let his eyes fall closed, wishing this didn't have to be so hard and complicated all the time. The fate of the world rested squarely on his shoulders, and if he made one tiny mistake, the future could be permanently shattered.
He opened his eyes again, fueled with fresh determination. Looking over at one of his many leather-bound books, he brought it to him with a casual, almost lazy flick of his wrist. Resignedly, eyes already blurring, he reread the text that he'd already pored over many times before.
"Chris!"
A groaned slipped past his lips, and he momentarily paused in his work.
"Don't you dare ignore me! Chris!"
He did just that, already wincing at the verbal lashing he'd receive the next time he saw Piper. She called a few more times, her voice ringing so loudly that she could have been screaming right next to him. He tried to lower the volume, but he couldn't completely turn off the connection when she was being so adamant. Eventually she stopped calling.
Breathing deeply, both relief and guilt combining into a slimy mixture deep in his stomach, Chris turned his attention back to the book in his hands.
There were deep bags under Chris' eyes the next morning.
He stared at himself in the dingy bathroom mirror, hands braced on the edge of the sink. In addition to the bags, his cheeks were hollow and his hair hung limply in his eyes, long past needing a cut.
He was running himself ragged, and he still didn't feel like he'd gotten anywhere. He had no idea who turned Wyatt, and vanquishing all these demons didn't seem to be doing any good. When he'd gone back to the future with Bianca a few weeks ago, it had still been bleak and dismal despite everything he'd done. How could nothing have changed? What more could he do?
"Chris!"
He groaned, letting his head fall forward into his chest. Now it was Paige calling, and Chris was willing to bet they'd worked out some sort of rotation so that they could bother him all day if he didn't respond. Ignoring the splitting headache that was forming just behind his eyes, he threw a halfway clean shirt over his head and orbed into the manor.
Paige looked surprised, like she hadn't expected him to respond. He raised his eyebrows in question, and she put her hands on her hips. He prepared himself for the verbal attack.
"Hey, he's here!" She yelled first, and Chris heard the sound of pounding feet. He felt like a deer about to be cornered by the rest of the wolf pack.
Paige turned her attention back to him as Piper and Phoebe entered the attic. "How could you just ignore us like that, Chris? What if we were calling you because we were in trouble?"
"I would have known if it was serious," Chris replied immediately, prepared for this argument. "I would have sensed it."
"Doesn't change the fact that you're our Whitelighter, and you refused to come when we called." Piper crossed her arms over her chest and sent him a fierce glower, not unlike the one she'd given him the day she had banished him from the house.
"I'm not a dog, Piper," Chris replied, shooting her an annoyed look.
"Still, you should listen to us. We might have needed you for something else," Phoebe threw in. Chris wondered if they'd worked out the tag-team system before he'd shown up, or if it just came naturally. Probably the latter.
"Whatever," Chris said dismissively, turning his back on them. Paige understood his destination and darted around him, reaching the Book before he could. An exasperated sigh passed his lips. "Paige."
"Uh-uh, mister. You are going to tell us exactly what you know about the demon, or we'll get the answers from you ourselves." She looked supremely smug, and he suddenly felt wary. Smug Charmed Ones never boded well.
"And how are you planning to do that?" he asked, mostly succeeding in keeping his voice sarcastic.
She looked down at the book, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Thinking quickly, he orbed just behind her and read the page over her shoulder. She slammed the book closed, but not quickly enough.
"A Truth Spell? You can't be serious." He turned toward Piper and Phoebe. "You guys didn't actually agree to this, did you?"
Phoebe's expression didn't change, but her eyes showed her reluctance. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Because you two have already seen how it works," Chris replied, "And you know that it'll forces you to tell the truth to each other, too. And everyone you talk to will forget, which is really inconvenient if you're planning on getting anything done today—"
"How did you know all that?" Piper interrupted sharply, eyes a little wide. "How'd you know that Prue cast the spell once?"
Chris stayed quiet for a moment. Then he figured it was safe enough and said, "You're not a secret in the future, Piper. None of you are."
"Bianca said—" Chris whirled around and Paige broke off, looking uncertain. After a heavy silence, she continued, "She said something about history books."
"Yeah, you're in them," Chris replied, swallowing passed the lump in his throat. "But I can't tell you any more. Future—"
"Consequences," the three chorused with him, and he scowled.
"But we need to know," Phoebe said, taking a step forward. "So either you tell us, or we use the spell."
"I have to be in the house for that spell to work," Chris said, preparing to orb if they started chanting.
"We've got a spell for that, too," Paige said triumphantly, holding up a small, wrinkled slip of paper. "Anti-orbing spell. Turns out those bimbos weren't quite as stupid as they looked."
Chris suppressed a shudder at the mention of the Spellman sisters. Kissing someone you thought was your aunt, regardless of whether or not she actually was, left some deep emotional scars. He shoved down the remnants of his disgust and focused on Paige again.
"You really think you can read that before I leave?" he asked incredulously. As far as ambushes went, this one was pretty poor. He had to wonder if their hearts were really in it, and it made him feel marginally better to think that they didn't really want to force the truth out of him.
Phoebe was the first to slouch in defeat, the fight draining out of her in a long sigh. She met his gaze with tired eyes. "We really hate to threaten you, Chris. And we don't want to invade your privacy, either. That's part of the reason we've never used that spell, even though you drive us crazy with your secrets." She shook her head, and anger flashed through her eyes. "But you can't keep us in the dark about this, either. Not when whatever you're hiding almost killed Piper. Just tell us. Please."
Chris glanced at Piper before he could stop himself. She looked stubborn and unyielding like usual, but she had stayed firmly silent thus far. She was probably waiting to see if Phoebe could convince him.
His first instinct was still to hide this from them, if only to keep Piper away from it. If they did hunt the demon down, she would certainly tag along, and that thought was unbearable to him. How could he send her after the thing that killed her?
But what if coming back to the past had somehow altered the timeline, and the demon was coming after her now? If so, wasn't she ultimately in danger either way? Should he be helping them find it? If he did, there was a chance he could get there first, before any of them risked themselves.
He felt the last of his resolve crumble at the thought of getting rid of the demon permanently. Would his mother be safe then? How could she die if the demon that killed her was already dead? And it wasn't really going against his rule—his one rule, no personal gain—because he had to keep the sisters trust to save Wyatt. And to do that he had to tell them the truth.
"I don't know that much," he said finally, honestly. "And I'm not telling you everything—"
"Chris," Phoebe said in warning, and Piper likewise opened her mouth to protest.
Chris held up his hands at both of them. "Not because of future consequences. There are some things—personal things—that I can't…. I won't—"
"Did this demon hurt someone you knew, Chris?" Phoebe asked, a shrewd, knowledgeable look in her eyes. Too knowledgeable. Chris cursed yet again the fact that she was an empath. He wished that particular power could have taken a few more years to develop. But then again, maybe this had nothing to do with her powers. Maybe she was just naturally intuitive.
He stared at her for a beat and then looked away, eyes settling randomly on the sack of crystals in the corner of the room. He nodded curtly. "I was fourteen."
"I'm sorry," Phoebe said quietly, and he looked sharply at her again.
"Don't bother," he answered, a little more coldly than he'd intended. "It was a long time ago."
Apparently she didn't buy it, because she was still staring at him like he was a wounded animal lying in the middle of the road. Come to think of it, they were all staring at him like that.
"I know that he can conjure athames," Chris said loudly, drawing their attention back to the reason for this conversation in the first place. "And the athame has a symbol etched into the blade—an inverted cross surrounded by three stars."
"Anything else?" Piper asked, her sympathy seemingly forgotten, and Chris was glad of it.
"We were never able to come up with a name, but my—" He broke off, biting his tongue hard at the almost slip-up. Mentioning that he had a brother probably wouldn't set off their suspicions, but it was still information he wanted to keep to himself. He couldn't believe how badly this whole situation was messing with his head. "My family did find out that other demons knew of him, and they were afraid of him. No one would ever give us information, even when we—ah, forcefully questioned them."
"You didn't find anything else?" Paige asked again, a look of consternation on her face. Chris wondered if she expected more information. He supposed he had built up suspense by refusing to tell them what he knew.
"Well, we were going to keep looking, but our search was interrupted a year or two later."
"By what?" Piper asked absently, and Chris could see from the look on her face that she was lost in thought.
"Honestly? Wyatt." he said, tucking his hands into his pockets to ease the awkwardness of the moment. Didn't help much. "He was…taking over, by that time."
Piper looked at him, and for the first time her stern mask wavered. She looked horrified. "But he couldn't have been more than eighteen!"
"Seventeen, actually." Chris corrected her darkly. Then he regretted it when he saw the stricken look on Piper's face.
"It was his teenage years that completely turned him, I think," Chris said carefully, wanting to explain but not wanting to give away too much. "People are just naturally hot-headed and defiant at that age. And because he was turned when he was young, the inclination to rebel just went farther than normal."
Piper looked no less disturbed. He couldn't get rid of the truth for her, and he certainly couldn't tell her that her death had helped push Wyatt over the edge, so he moved on.
"The only other thing I know about the demon is that he attacked several other witches after—" he broke off again, as much to protect himself as to keep his secrets.
"After he did whatever it is he did to your family," Phoebe finished for him. He didn't look at her, had no desire to see the compassion and pity that were surely visible on her face.
"Yeah. So the demon wasn't just attacking at random. Whoever he is, he had a plan. Probably one that was overshadowed by Wyatt's rise to power."
"Okay, so what if this mysterious demon somehow found out about you coming back here?" Piper suggested, an eyebrow raised. "What if he thinks you're trying to stop whatever they do in the future? Maybe they're putting the plan into action now, so that you can't screw it up."
Chris contemplated that. It made sense, but he wasn't surprised; Piper rarely suggested something that she hadn't thought through completely. "It's possible. But if that's the case, how'd he find out about me?"
"Wait," Paige said suddenly, and Chris glanced at her. She looked serious, her eyebrows furrowed deep in thought, and she was absently fingering the bracelet on her wrist. "If it's happening now instead of in the future, couldn't all those people—the people who were also attacked—be at risk now?"
Chris' eyes widened; he hadn't considered that before. He'd been too caught up in the danger for Piper. "I don't—I mean, I guess—"
"Well, then, can you think of anyone who could be a target?" Paige asked urgently, obviously afraid that innocent witches could be dying as they spoke.
"I—I don't…" Chris faltered, and his eyes locked on his mother. In that moment, all he wanted to do was tell them. They would protect her if he did, and she would be saved from whatever had killed her in his past and almost killed her in this one. "No," Chris answered instead, and his gaze settled on the floor. "Most of them aren't born yet."
"Wait, what was that?" Phoebe asked, sounding suspicious. A glance at Paige revealed that the youngest sister had the exact same look on her face. Not good. "Are you keeping something from us again, Chris?"
"No!" He answered, slightly panic-stricken. Then he took a deep breath and added, "I mean, yes, but no. Not anything you need to—You don't understand how important it is that I—"
"Why'd the demon go after Piper?" Phoebe asked fiercely. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her stance was confrontational. "Chris?"
"I don't know," he answered, and his voice stayed strong until the last syllable. The tiny break didn't go unnoticed by Phoebe.
"Does he get her in the future?" she asked, her voice rising an octave. "Is that why he attacked her now?"
Chris couldn't believe this. Everything was falling apart at the seams. He'd worked so hard for so long to keep everything from them; how had it gotten so out of control?
Well, he knew how. It had happened the second the demon decided to meld the future with present. All of his lies had finally shattered in that moment, and now he was left dealing with the rubble.
"Can we please just concentrate on the task at hand?" he asked, not sure what else to do but direct their attention elsewhere. "If you're right, Paige, we can't just—"
All three of the Charmed Ones had opened their mouths to speak, each face heated and angry, but it was Leo who interrupted him. Chris' father orbed in unexpectedly.
"The Elders have been filling me in on a host of new witch-attacks," he began, but broke off when he caught the looks on the sisters' faces. His gaze swung toward Chris. The Witchlighter carefully angled his head away, afraid that Leo was still looking for similarities.
"What happened?" Leo asked instead, eyes lingering on Chris and then flicking over to Piper.
"We're not really sure," Piper answered, frowning thoughtfully. "Chris?"
"We're trying to find the demon," Chris explained, somewhat stiffly. "The one that attacked Piper."
"Oh, good," Leo said, looking a little surprised. "Have you found anything?"
"We know that—"
"We know that Chris is keeping something from us. Something about Piper," Paige interrupted, hands on her hips and expression sour. Chris sent her a nasty look.
"I'm always keeping stuff from you," he answered, not wanting to bother with lies and cover stories anymore. "Get over it, already."
"Don't you dare speak to us like that, young man!" Piper began angrily, eyes flashing and hands fluttering to rest on her hips. "Now, if this has to do with me, then I think I have a right to know—"
"No you don't! None of you have the right to know the future. And I don't know why you keep pushing me to tell you, anyway. I've been there; I lived there. Trust me, it's not something you want to hear about."
"But if it can help people now, then you should tell us. You shouldn't hold back information that could save innocents." Paige responded, arms crossed over her chest.
"Some innocents are meant to die," Chris shot back, anger surging through his veins "You think I don't want to save everyone I've ever lost? You think I want to grow up without a family? There are some things that you can't change, no matter how much you want to. You learned that, Paige, when you put on your grandmother's boots."
Paige paused for a moment, a hint of uncertainty flashing across her face. Then it cleared, and she began, "But this is about Piper, not—"
"Look, do you still have the dagger from the attack?" Chris interrupted, and Phoebe shot him a furious glare. He looked at Piper, who seemed to be the calmest of the three, and she nodded. "Use it. Scry."
"But what if—"
"You asked for my help, right? Well, you're getting it," he said firmly, face set. When none of them moved, he fought the urge to sigh and added, "You realize that if something does happen to Piper in the future, the best way to eliminate the threat is to find the demon?"
Paige was the first to move. She took a few steps toward the door and tugged on Phoebe's arm. "Come on. The crystal's in the kitchen."
"I'll go mix up some basic potions," Piper said as Phoebe and Paige exited the room. Chris looked at her sharply, wondering why she wasn't pushing for more information.
"We need to talk about this," she began by way of explanation. "But we need to find this demon first. Just don't think this is the end of this conversation."
She glared at him warningly for a minute and then left, following her sisters down the stairs.
It's never the end, Chris thought, closing his eyes and breathing out a sigh.
"Does something happen to her?"
Chris opened his eyes and looked at Leo. The Elder's face was pinched and concerned, but Chris saw none of the usual distrust there. Chris would have preferred Leo to suspect him. It was easier that way. "I can't tell you that."
"I'm an Elder," Leo countered, an argument he'd used many times before.
"An Elder who goes from Earth to Up There and back again whenever he feels like it," Chris responded. At the affronted look on Leo's face, he added, "Look, I don't think it's bad that you're here, but you can change the future just as easily as any of them."
Leo stared at him for a few seconds, gaze unwavering, and Chris struggled not to look away. He'd gotten used to avoiding gazes and telling his lies carefully to the floor.
"I don't think I could resist stopping something bad from happening to my family, if I knew," Leo said finally, almost like a confession. Then, after a slight pause, he asked, "Haven't you ever wanted to look up your parents? To warn them so they'll be prepared?"
Chris almost laughed at the question. He reined in that particular response and answered, "I'm hoping that stopping Wyatt will be enough. If it's not…" he drifted off, unsure. If it wasn't enough, what would he do? Come back to the past again? This time for purely selfish reasons?
No, he couldn't do that. It would be catastrophic. "If it's not, then I'll just have to live with it. I've done it before."
Leo didn't say anything for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was uncertain. "Is it that bad?"
Chris smiled, but it was a humorless thing. "Yeah."
"I'm sorry," Leo said abruptly, and Chris was bewildered. When he was younger, he had wanted nothing more than to hear his father apologize for the neglect and abandonment and constant favoritism. But in this context, he wasn't even sure how to take it.
"For what?" he asked finally.
"For not being a better father, I guess," Leo explained, and Chris' heart sped up to an almost painful rhythm. Did he know? Chris knew he'd suspected, but had he really figured out—"I can't help but think that if I'd taken better care of Wyatt, been around for him more or something, then maybe it wouldn't have turned out this way."
Wyatt. Of course this was about Wyatt. Bitterness flooded through Chris, bringing with it a whole lot of disappointment. He suppressed the latter emotion by focusing on the first one.
"Trust me, you not being there for Wyatt has nothing to do with it," Chris sneered, his voice too cold to sound comforting.
Leo looked at him strangely, probably picking up on the dark undertones in Chris' reply. "Look, Chris, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted—"
"I get it. You wanted to feel better about Wyatt turning evil under your watch," Chris retorted, because he knew it would hurt Leo and at that moment he really wanted to.
The lines around Leo's mouth tightened and his eyes hardened, and he looked much more like the father Chris knew. "That's not fair, and you know it," he argued, seemingly angrily, but Chris could hear the fear just beneath the surface. It told him that Leo had thought the exact same thing. "I love my son, and I'm doing the best I can."
"Why do you even care what I think, Leo?" Chris asked, trying not to respond to the emotional declaration. "Last I checked, you hated me."
"I never hated you," Leo replied, still frowning. "I just wanted to protect my family."
"Whatever," Chris said dismissively. He turned back towards the Book, not because he had something to search for, but because he really didn't want to have to look at Leo anymore. "I don't need you trying to make up for it now."
"Chris, I—"
A flurry of movement interrupted him, and before Chris was aware of what was happening, rough, dark hands had grabbed him from behind and leveled a knife at his jugular.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the demon said, yanking Chris backwards a few steps. Chris looked toward Leo, who was poised to call for the girls. "You want to kill the little Witchlighter?"
Chris felt the cold metal blade dig into the skin of his neck, hard enough to keep him completely still. He looked over at Leo, who was standing completely motionless, expression frozen on his face. Chris flicked his eyes toward the door in silent communication.
"Don't even think about it," The demon breathed close to Chris' ear, and his voice sent chills creeping up Chris' spine. "Unless you want to see your mother die. Again."
Chris flinched, and the blade bit into his skin hard enough to draw blood. He inhaled sharply. "How do you know about that?" he breathed.
"I have some useful informants," The demon responded, almost indifferently, knotted hands still gripping the dagger at Chris' throat. "He won't kill her if you come with me. He wants to meet you."
"Who?" Chris asked sharply, but the demon simply pushed the dagger farther into his neck.
"You'll see. Or if you don't, you'll see her die. Again."
That simple statement was enough to decide it. Chris looked at Leo again, who was still immobile, afraid to move for fear of putting Chris in more danger. Their gazes locked for a fraction of a second. Then Leo shouted, "Chris, don't!"
Chris broke eye-contact with Leo and nodded once, very curtly to avoid more wounds from the blade. The demon grunted in satisfaction and shimmered away, and Chris felt himself being dragged along with him.
TBC....
