Chapter 4- Tortured Soul

The three girls and Leo were still a bit in shock from watching the exchange that had occurred before Chris abruptly orbed out of the attic.

"Why can't you sense him?" Leo had asked his future self.

LEO sighed tiredly. "It's a long story…"

"Well, we have all night," Piper said, determined to hear all there was to know about this LEO from the future.

LEO leaned forward and hung his head in his hands, still trying to get his emotions under control. He was quiet for a long while. "I don't know what I can say without giving away too much about the future …" he said finally.

Phoebe sat down beside him and placed her hand between his shoulder blades, rubbing gently. "I know you're going through a lot, but it would be helpful to at least tell us something. The spell brought you here for a reason. You hold the key to something that we're obviously meant to know."

LEO looked up at her wearily, indecision plainly visible on his face.

"She's right you know," said Leo. "Magic brought you here for a reason. It's logical to assume that something went wrong the first time around and we're meant to save Wyatt this time."

"Do you really think so?" LEO asked his counterpart.

"I have to," he replied. "I refuse to allow my son to grow up to be what you and Chris have made him out to be… the source of all evil."

LEO nodded, thinking over his words. "I guess I can tell you that the reason I can't sense Chris is because Wyatt bound my powers…"

"Why?" Piper asked.

LEO bluntly replied, "To render me powerless, of course."

Piper scowled at his comment and crossed her arms over her chest. LEO of the future was apparently as difficult to talk to as the present one.

Phoebe peered at him carefully, taking in his still disheveled appearance, and inhaled sharply when she came to some conclusion. "He held you captive, didn't he?"

LEO nodded again, as he leaned back against the couch now and rested his head against the soft fabric. "Six years. Your spell saved me."

Piper gasped in shock. "You were imprisoned for six years? Why would our son do such a thing?"

"To keep me away from…" There was a moment when it seemed as though LEO might say 'Chris' but seemingly changed his mind. "I mean, out of the way, so that he can take over the world."

"You were going to say Chris, weren't you?" Phoebe inquired.

Rubbing a filthy hand over his face, he nodded in defeat. "We had become close again after a while of barely speaking to one another. Wyatt saw us as an opposition to his rising power. By severing our bond he was hoping that he could eventually sway Chris to his side."

"But that didn't happen," Phoebe finished. "Chris chose to fight back… that must have been hard for him going against a family friend."

"I never thought of it that way," Piper whispered.

She hadn't ever really entertained the thought that Chris was someone they would come to know in the future. Now that she had learned that he was a family friend, she felt guilty to have treated him so horribly since he had arrived in this time. It certainly didn't excuse his actions, however, and she was determined to know all there was to know about their whitelighter.

"There's something that I don't understand. Why was Chris so upset that you're alive?" she asked, still thinking about Chris's emotional display before he left.

"He thinks I abandoned him," LEO replied despairingly.

Piper looked confused. "Abandoned him? I thought he was just a friend or something…"

"We were really close to his family. Like I said, Chris practically grew up in the manor," Leo explained, still following Chris's wish to lie to them about his identity. "There is a lot of history that I can't tell you about, but basically things were rough between Chris and I for a long while… he felt abandoned by me for a lot of different reasons, especially by my supposed death it seems. I probably made things a lot worse telling him I was still alive and wasn't able to be there for him for everything that happened next …"

"But that wasn't your fault!" Paige argued.

"I know that, but Chris doesn't. At least not yet…" he explained tiredly.

Being a former doctor, Leo had already begun to notice the fragile condition the man was in and decided that he needed to intervene before the girls began attacking him with any more questions. He knew that they wouldn't stop until they had all their answers and this future version of him seemed to be in no condition to be answering much of anything. Leo certainly knew how he would feel if he were in this position, and he felt that the least he could do was to fend the sisters off LEO for now.

He cleared his throat and said, "Um… I hate to break things up, but I think LEO- God, that's weird- would appreciate a shower, clean clothes, and something to eat before we continue any further."

LEO nodded at him appreciatively and smiled. "I would actually… I can't remember when I ate last."

"But aren't you technically dead?" Paige asked. "I didn't think that whitelighters had to eat or sleep."

"We don't, but we still enjoy creature comforts here on earth. And being deprived of his powers for so long, I imagine that he his body has become weakened as a result," Leo provided. "Without his self-healing powers, it's plausible to assume that left in those conditions over time his body would have continued to deteriorate until he ceased to exist."

"Ew…" said Paige simply.

"I don't know how you survived six years…" he said in amazement.

"Neither do I…" LEO muttered.

"But shouldn't we discuss why the spell brought him here?" Piper insisted almost angrily.

Leo put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "We'll have time for that later," he said softly. "The man has just been rescued from being held captive and sent to the past. Give him a chance to feel normal."

Piper sighed in defeat. "LEO, why don't you use our bathroom to shower? I'm sure you can find some of Leo's clothing in the dresser. While you get cleaned up, I'll fix us some dinner," she said, entering into her domestic mode.

"That would be lovely, thank you," said LEO, standing up from the couch.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to check in at work," said Phoebe, standing up beside him. "Elise will be working late and I know she'll be hounding me about this week's column if I don't at least make an appearance."

"And I'm going to pop over to see Richard for a bit. Want a lift?" Paige asked Phoebe.

"Sure," she said, taking her sister's hand. Paige then waved goodbye and orbed the two of them out of the attic.

"Just be home for dinner in an hour," Piper called after them. Frustrated by their lack of response, she waved her hand flippantly and headed downstairs to the kitchen leaving the two Leo's alone.

Seeing how LEO watched his former wife longingly, Leo asked, "How are you holding up?"

Startled from his reverie, LEO responded, "I'm no longer in that god awful cave. Compared to that, I'm doing great."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like," said Leo, leading the other man down the stairs toward the master bedroom. He still found it strange to be talking to himself. "I was only held captive in Valhalla for a few months and it was almost more than I can bear."

LEO looked puzzled. "Valhalla? I don't remember that."

"It was after I became an elder."

"But I didn't become an elder until after- I mean until 2006."

"Really?" Leo asked. "I wonder why there's a discrepancy."

Both men were pensive for a moment. "Could it be because of Chris?" he asked.

Leo smirked. "Probably seeing as Chris was the one who sent me there. Your memories are only of the previous timeline," he said working out this new theory. "By Chris coming back to the past, a new timeline has already begun. So it's reasonable to assume that you can tell us what you know of the future so that we can stop it from happening."

"I guess you're right," said LEO. "But first, I'd really love that shower."

Leo smiled and led him into the bedroom and pulled out some of his own clothes from the drawer, thankful that Piper hadn't thought to get rid of his things even though they were separated.

LEO took them gratefully. "Thank you," he said as he turned towards the master bathroom.

"Do you need to be healed anywhere?" Leo asked carefully. The man looked absolutely awful and if he truly had been held captive for six years, he was likely to have injuries, especially considering he was unable to self-heal.

LEO slowly turned back and then nodded. "I would appreciate it," he said. He then carefully removed the soiled shirt he was wearing. Beneath the filth, his skin was mottled with several painful looking cuts and bruises, healing at various degrees.

Leo gasped upon seeing the tortured body. "What happened to you?"

"Wyatt's minions like to get a little rough sometimes… they left me alone for the most part. I suppose it could have been a lot worse," he said darkly. LEO got a far away look in his eyes and it looked as though he were remembering something.

Leo wanted to ask about it, but felt that it was probably better not to. He quickly healed the man and left him to shower in peace. Stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him, Leo heard his son stirring in his crib.

Smiling he peeked into the small room and saw that Wyatt was awake from his nap. "Hi, little buddy. Did you wake up?"

Wyatt gurgled happily to see his father home.

Leo picked up his son, hugging him tightly, and said, "Let's go see what mommy's fixing for dinner."

***

LEO put one hand against the shower wall to brace himself and allowed the hot water pour over his head and down his tired body, trying to get his emotions in check. He was relieved to finally be free of his imprisonment, but it was completely overwhelming to be in the past with the Charmed Ones. It certainly was a surreal experience. Being here in the manor reminded him of so many memories, both good and bad, that had yet to happen. It was bittersweet, especially being able to see Piper again.

As strange as it was to be here with the sisters and his past self, it was almost unbelievable that Chris was here too. LEO still couldn't believe his luck. He knew he should be grateful for this opportunity to reconnect with him, but deep down he was worried that he would never be able to get through to the young man. There was too much that had happened.

LEO ended up spending more than half an hour enjoying the wonders of a long hot shower and would have stayed in there much longer if he had not drained the hot water tank. Finally feeling refreshed and thankful for the clean clothing, he decided to join the others downstairs for dinner.

He found Piper in the kitchen as expected, and he stood in the doorway for awhile watching her effortlessly move around as she cooked. It was clear that she was enjoying what she was doing and was oblivious of his presence. He felt himself getting choked up thinking of memories of her in his own past, and it was all he could do to keep his composure.

Hearing someone coming up behind him from the conservatory, LEO straightened up and tried to school his features.

"Feeling better?" Leo asked as he walked by, carrying something in his arms.

"Yes, much bet-" he began, but stopped in mid sentence when he saw Leo set baby Wyatt in his highchair.

Here before him was a child that would grow up to become so lost that he would only find security in the shadows. He felt his heart breaking for his little boy. Wyatt would come to know such unimaginable emotional pain that would seek out ways to prevent himself from ever feeling such pain ever again. He would turn away from the light and embrace the darkness, committing horrible misdeeds in his vain attempt to control everything lest he lose himself completely. The world would lay helpless and utterly destroyed in his wake of grief and regret.

"Is everything alright?" Piper asked him, sensing that something was amiss.

"What?" he asked, tearing his eyes away from his son. "Yeah… I had forgotten how old Wyatt would be in this time. I was just surprised to see him."

"It must be strange for you," Leo said knowingly, "to see Wyatt like this after knowing him as evil in the future."

LEO nodded, looking back at his son once more.

"Would you like to hold him?" Piper asked.

LEO hesitated, knowing that he didn't need to fear this younger version, but he still felt some trepidation. He knew what Wyatt was capable of in the future, including his own imprisonment. He would never hold a baby responsible for those future actions, but the request still made him pause. "Maybe later," he said tightly.

Piper seemed as though she wanted to say something more, but thought better of it. Changing the subject she said, "You look much better."

LEO nodded and smiled, noting that Piper had looked him over with an approving eye. It was nice to know she still thought of him as attractive.

He sat at the kitchen table with Leo and chatted with him while Piper finished up dinner. Phoebe and Paige joined them a short while later and they all moved into the dining room so that they could all dine together.

Not used to having so many to cook for again, there wasn't much in the kitchen that she could prepare, so Piper had opted to make a simple meal of spaghetti. She couldn't believe how nice it was having a family meal with everyone sitting down together for a change. Her sisters had been so busy lately that Piper had gotten used eating with only a toddler every evening. For some reason, it didn't seem the slightest bit strange that there were two versions of her husband at the dining room table tonight. She was just happy to have them there.

Dinner conversation centered mainly on Paige's temp jobs and what was happening at Phoebe's newspaper. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that conversations about the future could wait until they were done eating.

Somewhere in the middle of dinner, Wyatt had begun to fuss in his chair. Before anyone else could move, LEO had gotten up and retrieved Wyatt from his highchair. He settled the toddler on his lap, bouncing him slightly, and continued eating as if nothing had happened. It had been so natural that LEO didn't even realize that he had done it, until he saw Piper give him a curious look.

All of the reservations he had held earlier seemed to dissolve as the held Wyatt's warm weight in his lap. He looked down into his son's pale blue eyes and knew that he could not blame him for what he would become. For now, he was still his precious little angel. Thankfully, Wyatt didn't seem to mind that he currently two "daddies."

Just as they had finished dinner and the sisters were working to clear the table, Chris orbed into the dining room. He looked a mess and it was clear by his windblown hair that he had sat atop the bridge for a long while.

After his abrupt departure earlier, no one seemed to know what to say. The tension in the room was evident, and Chris nervously fidgeted with the hem of his shirt under their scrutiny. He looked at the two Leo's as if trying to decide which one was which. Chris finally settled on the slightly thinner and older of the two and addressed him.

"Can we speak in private?" Chris asked.

LEO nodded and handed Wyatt over to Piper. A moment later, Chris had orbed them up to the attic.