Title: Lonely Light of Morning

Chapter 7: Praying that You'll Make It

A/N: Hey…so we're back! We'd both like to apologise profusely for the two year delay in posting. It was inexcusable, and we can only say that we're very, very sorry and that we'll try our best not to let something like this happen again! The difficulties of trans-continental writing notwithstanding! Rest assured we are both committed to seeing this story through, and we hope that we haven't lost too many reviewers along the way.


Do you know what youre fate is?
And now you're trying to shake it?
You're doing youre best dance, youre best look
You're praying that you'll make it.

- One Republic, Say (All I Need)


Chris sighed in frustration, pushing the book away from him. It was no use, he just couldn't concentrate. The last few days, the awkward silences between him and Sam and the cold treatment he was getting from the Charmed Ones was getting to him more than he liked to admit. Thankfully, Sam hadn't brought up saving Dean again, though Chris could tell it was always on his mind. He was grateful for the respite, but he knew Sam had by no means given up on getting Dean out of hell. The only thing holding him back was the way the sisters had been treating Chris.

Paige had, of course, immediately reported everything she'd heard to Piper and Phoebe, with the result that they now trusted him even less than they previously had, if that was possible. Piper had actually barged into their room and demanded to know what he was planning. Chris had stood his ground and given her the worn-out excuse of "future consequences." She had stormed at him for a full half an hour, completely ignoring Sam, who had sat on the couch watching the exchange with widened eyes, unable to get a word in edgeways. She had finally left saying that if he ever hurt either Wyatt or Sam in any way, she would blow him up.

"Wow," Sam said dazedly after she had slammed the door to their room, "She's really..."

"...protective," said Chris, rubbing his forehead exhaustedly. Fighting with Piper had never been a pleasant experience even in the future, and that was when she actually knew he was her son. "Yeah, she is. And it seems she's decided you need protecting from me now, too." He sighed, and then muttered, "I'm surprised she didn't throw me out of P3 and be done with it."

Sam stared at him, troubled. "She wouldn't actually do that, would she? I could talk to her-"

"Please, don't," Chris interrupted emphatically. "That's the last thing I need. She'll be even more convinced that I've got you under my 'evil influence'. And then she really would blow me up."

Since that conversation, Sam hadn't brought Dean up again. Chris was grateful, since it gave him time to think. And he needed time. It hadn't been true what he'd told Sam; that he'd never intended to bring Dean back. He had only acted stunned so that Sam would stop bugging him about it but he knew now that wouldn't work. The Sam he'd known in the future had been more patient, more willing to wait. They had made plans together to save their brothers; long, elaborate plans that had sometimes taken months to put together. They'd seen failure after failure but neither of them had ever given up. Not until- he cut the thought off abruptly.

The last plan he and Sam had been working on had yet to be put in motion. Chris had wanted to wait until he saved Wyatt before he acted on it but now he realised that wouldn't work. This Sam was so different from his Sam. He was still fresh from his brother's loss, and he hadn't had years of experience working with the Charmed Ones. He wouldn't be patient; he'd never give up on saving his brother now that he knew it was a possibility. He would bring it up again, and Chris would say no and then they'd fight about it and Sam would go and do something stupid and then the Charmed Ones would get involved... He didn't think he could take arguing with Sam on top of everything else. He was barely holding it together as it was.

And the stark truth was that he was no closer to finding out who had turned Wyatt evil than he had been when he first came here. He got leads in the Underworld, but they were few and far between, and most of them didn't even survive the first stages of investigation. There weren't too many demons capable of getting to the Twice Blessed. Although he kept telling the sisters when he sent them on demon vanquishes that this demon could be the one who had hurt Wyatt, many of the demons wouldn't even have been able to get past the wards around the manor, let alone past Wyatt's shield. Most of them were demons who would work with Wyatt at some point in the future, wreaking destruction on the Resistance and by taking them out he hoped that he'd changed the future for the better. But there had been so many of them. And none of them had been able to wreak more destruction than Dean.

He closed his eyes for a moment, consumed by memories of things he had never wanted to relive again, but would have to, if he did this. When he opened them again his gaze fell on Sam, who was sprawled on the couch, fast asleep, his long legs jutting off the edge. Even in sleep, his face wasn't completely peaceful. He could already see the traces of lines which he knew would deepen over the years until they became etched permanently on his face, not even disappearing when he smiled. Chris stared at Sam for a long moment and then sighed raggedly. He had made his decision.


Sam woke in the morning with the sensation that someone was staring at him. He sat up quickly, hand automatically going for the knife he kept under his pillow, and paused when he saw Chris sitting behind the desk, staring at him with an unblinking gaze.

"Chris?" Sam asked in confusion. "What time is it?" Chris was never there when he woke up.

Chris didn't answer, continuing to stare at him in that unnerving way, almost as though he was trying to see into his head. "If I told you there was a way to resurrect Dean," he said, and ignored Sam's sharply indrawn breath, "Would you be willing to trust me completely? Would you be willing to do exactly what I say, no questions asked?"

"Of course," Sam said without hesitation, trying to control the wild upsurge of hope in his heart. "I'd give my life if it meant-" He cut off the ill-chosen words abruptly. Pain flashed through Chris's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Sam almost thought he'd imagined it.

"I don't need you to do anything so drastic," he said coolly. "In fact, I don't need you to do anything at all. That's what I'm asking of you, that you let me do everything. That you don't try to interfere in any way with any of my plans. And, most of all, you give me your word that you won't tell the sisters anything unless I say it's okay."

Sam hesitated for a few moments while he absorbed this. He hadn't bargained for keeping secrets from the sisters, and he didn't really like being answerable to Chris. Then again, he hadn't told them about Wyatt turning evil in the future, so he supposed he was always keeping secrets from them. He knew that when it came down to it, obeying Chris's rules was a small price to pay if he could get his brother back. "If that's the only way to get him back, then fine," he said, "I swear."

Chris continued to stare at him for a moment, and then nodded, apparently satisfied. "Have you ever heard of The Tribunal?" he asked.

Sam remembered the name from the research he'd done on the Charmed Ones and their world. "They're the ultimate force of law in the magical world, aren't they? They're responsible for maintaining the balance of good and evil in the world. A triad of two Elders and one demon. All magical beings from nymphs to Elders are answerable to them."

Chris nodded in confirmation.

"But what does that have to do with Dean?"

"In the future the Charmed Ones' history is recorded in books. I read many of them before I came here, as research. A few months from now, they'll have to stand on trial before the Tribunal. I won't go into the details, but at the end of that trial The Tribunal resurrected a demon the Charmed Ones vanquished years ago."

"You want to ask them to resurrect Dean?" Sam asked, disappointment washing over him when the younger man nodded. This was Chris's great plan? "But that would never work. The first thing I read about them is that they can't actually interfere with the workings of the magical world unless-"

"-unless it's a matter that affects the balance of good and evil," Chris finished, giving him a grim smile. "Believe me, this does."


"...so we need you to convince Leo to get the Elders to grant us a hearing with the Tribunal," Chris finished. Sam stood silently by his side, following Chris's request that he let Chris do all the talking. It went against Sam's grain to let someone else plead his case for him, but he didn't really want to piss Chris off when he'd only just agreed to help him.

"Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Piper demanded.

"Because I didn't want to go to The Tribunal until after I'd saved Wyatt," said Chris.

"Why not?"

"I had my reasons."

Piper frowned, displeased by the evasive answer, and was clearly about to question him more, but Phoebe beat her to it. "So this was always part of your plan?" she asked. "You were always planning to resurrect Dean?"

"Yes," Chris said, his expression guarded and giving away nothing, "I came back to save them both."

"And you didn't think it necessary to tell us about this," Paige said angrily. "Not even when I was assigned as Sam's whitelighter. You didn't think it was something I might have needed to know?"

"I'm sorry," Chris said, not sounding sorry in the least, "But I told you, I never planned on doing this until after I saved Wyatt-"

"And who are you to make decisions like that?" Piper asked, "And now, what, you've randomly changed your plans? If you had a way of saving Sam's brother, why didn't you tell him at once? What right did you have to keep something like that from him?"

Chris was fast losing his patience. "You're seriously asking me why I thought saving your son, the all-powerful Twice Blessed, was more important than anything else?" he asked incredulously.

"Well, if you-"

"Piper?" Sam interrupted softly, unable to sit there in silence any longer. The situation was rapidly getting out of hand, and if he didn't take control now, the sisters would never agree to this. "I don't really care about Chris's plans, and I care even less why he decided to change them." He turned pleading eyes on them, letting them see the full extent of his desperation. "I just want to save my brother. Please. This is my only shot."

"Sam, we know you just want to save Dean," Paige said. "We get that. But you're too close to this. You don't realise-"

"What, that I might be manipulating him for some agenda of my own?" Chris interrupted harshly. "For God's sake, I'm not luring him into the Underworld! I came to you with this, didn't I? And even if I wanted to, do you really think I could fool the Tribunal? Newsflash, it's the most powerful force of magic in the world!"

There was a silence as the sisters considered this.

"Guys, I know you don't trust Chris," Sam said, "And I know you've known him for longer than I have. But I've lived with him, and I know him better than you do. And I'd trust him with my life."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chris go suddenly still at the words, but he concentrated his gaze on the Charmed Ones. They looked completely stunned, and for once, even Piper seemed at a loss for words.

"Leo always trusted your judgement, even when he didn't always agree with you," Chris said, looking at each of them in turn, and finally focussing on Paige. "Maybe you should do the same for your charge."

And then he took Sam's arm and orbed them back to their room.

"What did you do that for?" Sam asked when they'd re-materialised. "We'd almost convinced them!"

"Actually, I'm pretty sure we did convince them," Chris said, "But they'll want to discuss this amongst themselves before deciding anything for sure."

Sam nodded. "I still don't understand why we couldn't just have gone to the Elders ourselves," he said a few seconds later.

"That's because Leo trusts me even less than they do," Chris said. "And if he thought I was up to something he'd probably convince the Elders to deny my request. But if the sisters ask him for us, he'd be more willing to consider it."

"He really hates you that much?" Sam asked, surprised. He had met Leo a few times, and he'd seemed a nice, peaceful kind of guy. Weren't Elders supposed to be pacifists?

Something dark and bitter passed over Chris's face. "You have no idea," he muttered. He walked over to his desk and pulled a massive book on special demonic types towards himself. He had just settled down to read when he felt Sam's gaze on him. He looked up. "What?"

"Can...can I ask you something? And don't think I'm questioning you, or you know, not trusting you," he added hurriedly. "I'm just...curious."

Chris stared at him with an unreadable expression on his face. "Go ahead."

"Why did you change your plans?" Sam asked, "I mean, not that I'm not grateful, but the last time we talked, you were dead set against resurrecting Dean."

Chris studied him again for a long moment, as though trying to decide how honest he should be. "You found out about Wyatt turning evil and about Dean, and I never planned for that to happen," he said at last. "When situations change, so do plans."

Sam nodded, and Chris went back to his book. He had read half a page when Sam's voice again broke though his concentration. "Can I ask you something else?"

"I think you just did," Chris said, unable to suppress a sigh of exasperation.

Sam chose to ignore it. "Why did you originally plan to save Wyatt before Dean? You already had a plan which you could have put into place right from the start. And it's not a very difficult, risky plan either; it's surprisingly above-board in terms of magical law, and it has very little chance of anyone getting hurt."

"I told you," Chris said, but this time he wouldn't meet Sam's eyes. "Wyatt is more important-"

"No, it's more than that," Sam said. "I know you well enough by now to know that you never do anything without having a good reason for it. There's more to it."

Chris looked at him, startled. Sam met his gaze unwaveringly. I've lived with him, and I know him better than you do, Sam had told the Charmed Ones. Chris sighed. He had forgotten how good Sam had always been at reading people. "The case we put before The Tribunal will be based on a lot of evidence from me," he said. "Evidence showing what the future is like and the kind of havoc both Dean and Wyatt wreak on the world if they aren't stopped. Anyone who has knowledge like that might be tempted to act on it, to change things. And that could have catastrophic repercussions. It could be disastrous if the sisters found out, for instance. That's why I made you promise not to tell them anything."

And you trust me to keep that promise, no questions asked? Sam wondered silently, more than a little surprised. He hadn't thought Chris was capable of that kind of faith in him; in anyone for that matter. He'd never met anyone who played things closer to the vest. And yet he was being surprisingly forthcoming. Despite all the reasons Chris had given, he still found it hard to believe that there wasn't something else, something deeper, behind Chris's sudden willingness to change his plans.

And then he remembered the pain that had flashed through Chris's eyes when Sam had unwittingly reminded him of his death. "I'm going to save him, because if that's the only way to keep you alive, it's a price I'm willing to pay," Chris had said the day Sam had found out the truth about Dean and Wyatt. He remembered the anguish written on every line of Chris's face when he said that, and he remembered the panicked expression on his face when he tried to hide his knives. He closed his eyes as he finally realised what, or who, this drastic change of plans was all about.

And not for the first time, he wondered with a strange feeling of guilt for something he hadn't even done yet, how he could ever have killed himself when there was someone in the world who cared about him so much.


It took thirty-nine hours for the Charmed Ones to call Chris back. Chris counted them all, though Sam probably thought it was just another bizarre, intense reading spree with OCD-like glances at the clock. Sam hadn't hunted for the past few days, opting instead to research more into this new magical world. He sat on the couch behind Chris with his laptop and a dozen old books, mostly borrowed from Paige, making a sort of fort around him.

Chris recognized a few of the books. He and Wyatt had used them to answer the questions their parents didn't have time for, or weren't comfortable answering. Looking back on those times, Chris felt like he was remembering someone else's life. They had been as close as Sam and Dean in those childhood days. Like real brothers. Good brothers.

And then Chris caught sight of The Lost Arts of Magic, and he blinked. He hadn't thought of that book in ages. It had been Wyatt's personal favorite, but Chris had always avoided it. It gave him the creeps. Most of those "lost arts" seemed to be a good riddance. He looked at its flaking, damp-looking green binding and too-thick ivory pages and felt the temperature sink in his chest.

Maybe… Chris stopped himself. The book was only a tool. The evil had been in Wyatt already, drawing him to it in the first place. Still, though. He didn't like it that Sam was about to reach for it next.

Chris! Chris, come here, and bring Sam!

Chris snapped to attention, sitting up straight so fast that Sam jumped in surprise.

"The girls," said Chris, standing. "Come on."

He took Sam's arm and orbed back to the source of the call without waiting for a reply. And, just maybe, one of the books in Sam's stacks disappeared in scattered orblights, too.

The sight of Leo standing in his full Elder garb met them first. His disgruntled expression was the second thing they noticed, and the girls surrounding him on the couches looking curious was third. They were in the living room, Piper and Phoebe holding cups of hot tea and Paige bouncing in unconcealed restless energy.

"Well?" Chris asked without preamble. "What'd the Elders decide? You took damn long enough."

"On a deadline?" Leo shot back, challenging.

Chris noticed Sam giving him a look out of the corner of his eye, clearly telling him not to provoke the man that could get them back his brother. Fighting back a burst of anger, Chris bit his tongue.

After a moment of silence, Leo smirked. He'd won. His expression melted into seriousness again, however, and he announced, "The Elders have decided to let you go before the Tribunal-"

"Yes," said Sam, pumping his fist with one of the widest grins Chris had ever seen.

"-provided," Leo continued pointedly, "Chris isn't trying to waste their time or manipulate them for ulterior motives."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Well, now that you mention it," he said.

Leo met his glare head-on. "Your little 'future consequences' spiel isn't going to work on the Tribunal, Chris. I hope you realize that. You'll have to show them everything. Not tell them. Show them. So if you're lying about anything, they'll know. There is no way to twist facts or omit truths with them. They're the most powerful force of truth and judgement in the magical world. They'll squeeze every bit of truth and purpose out of you, and if they find you're wasting their time or trying to use them, they'll wipe your existence out of the books before you're ever born. Understood?"

Chris didn't flinch, though hearing Leo say it seemed to make everything he'd ever researched about them seem impossibly more real. Of course he understood. Of course he was planning for this. That didn't mean he still didn't have doubts, though.

"Yeah," he said. "I know."

Leo stared at him a few seconds longer before nodding. "Fine. You've got two days to prepare. I suggest you start now."

Chris gave him a mock salute, grabbed Sam, and orbed again before the girls had time to assail him with questions.

Two days. Forty-eight more hours. He could cling to his secrets and hide his worst memories for forty-eight more hours.

Fuck. What was he thinking, doing this?

He glanced over at Sam, with that ridiculously hopeful, triumphant expression, and remembered. Sam. Right. Sam and Dean. The only combination of words that could ever make Sam look so happy.

Sam and Dean. And all he had to do was put some of the worst moments of his life on display.

He shook his head and sank back into his chair. He hoped it would be worth it.

"So," said Sam, unable to keep silent any longer. He sat down on the very edge of the couch, even more jittery than Paige. "How are we going to do this? What's our angle?"

"Well," said Chris, picking up an athame and tapping it absently against the desk. "I have to give them evidence that the future really sucks and it's in the interest of the entire magical world for Dean to be resurrected." He paused, let the athame thunk harder against the desk so that it stuck, and finished, "Before Wyatt gets a hold of him… and they destroy everything."

Sam stopped bouncing. He stared at the back of Chris' head. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Chris stared at the stuck dagger. A thousand replies swarmed his head, from completely honest to unfathomably cryptic. After a few seconds of silence and Sam staring a hole in the back of his head, he said softly, "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"


TBC…