What Could Have Been

AN: I started school last Thursday. It might take me a little longer to update now with all my homework. Saving all the fun classes for senior may seem like a good idea until you start junior year and realize you have no idea what's going on.

Chapter 7

"What do you mean Wyatt?!" Matt almost yelled at Chris.

"He must have found us.", replied Chris in almost a whisper. The sisters exchanged glances before they all looked back at Chris. He had a far away look in his eyes. Like he was caught up in a memory that none of them could even imagine.

Matt snapped his fingers in front of Chris' eyes to snap him out of it. Chris' whole body jerked and he snapped his head towards Matt.

"What?" Chris said. Matt looked at him hesitantly.

"What are we going to do? About Wyatt."

Chris sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know what we can do. If there's even anything we can do. Maybe it's pointless to even try."

Phoebe shook her head. "Wait. What exactly will Wyatt do if he finds you? I mean you're his brother. Would he really hurt you?"

Chris spun around and glared at her. "Did you listen to anything we told you?! Wyatt doesn't care that we're brothers. All he cares about is power. He'll do anything to get it. He'll kill anyone that gets in his way. Even if it is his own family. Me and Mel and Prue are the only ones left. Do you really think he'll stop now? He won't. He will never stop. You have no idea how bad this is."

Leo and Cole looked at each other as the sisters glanced at each other again. Cole was the first one to say anything. "Could the Power of Three beat him?"

Chris looked at him and then at Matt and said, "No. Believe me. We tried."

They were all quiet for a minute. Suddenly the demon screamed and disappeared in flames. Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

"Guess he was in a hurry to get out fo here." said Prue.

Chris grimaced and said, "Wyatt must know we got him. He'll send more next time."

Piper replied, "When will there be a next time? Soon?"

Chris shrugged and didn't say anything so Matt answered for him. "It depends. If Wyatt thinks we're a big threat then they'll be more-a lot more- coming soon. If he's not too worried about us then he'll wait."

"Cause that's not nerve wracking or anything."

Chris smiled a little at Phoebe and replied, "That's how it is in the future. We're constantly on guard. Always looking over our shoulders. It can be a little frustrating but you get used to it."

The sister's just stared at him. "Okay. That sounded worse then I meant it to."

Prue looked at him and said, "Anyway. What should we do? About the whole Wyatt situation?"

Chris opened his mouth to reply but was cut off as a gray portal opened on the wall and two figures came through.

Phoebe yelled, "Demons!" She went to run towards her but Matt grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "Wait!"

Phoebe struggled and yelled, "What are you doing? Let me down! There are demons!"

Piper stepped forward and said, "Pheebs, I don't think they're demons."


Mel stared at the two women staring before her. She was trying to compose herself but she could feel herself starting to panic. Okay. Okay. Calm down. It's not that big of a deal. I'll just go back and we can fix this. This can be fixed. It was a long shot coming here anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breathe.

When she opened them she found Phoebe staring at her understandingly. She let all her breathe out in a sigh. Damn empathy. Chris started to fidget in his stroller and she immediately bent down and unbuckled him. She lifted him out and settled him on her hip. He's a lot heavier then Peyton is.

"So nothing changed even though we did stop Gideon from getting to Wyatt?"

Mel answered Piper saying, "Yeah. At least I don't think so. All I know is the last time I was in my time Wyatt was as evil as ever. Something else must have gone wrong." I have to go back.

"I have to go back. Now."

Piper looked like she was going to argue but Phoebe cut her off saying, "Don't Piper. She really does have to go back."

Piper looked at Phoebe with a confused stare while Mel just gave her a grateful look. Thank god I have an empath for my mother.

"Sorry to have bothered you. Don't worry about anything. I'm sure it's just a technical difficulty. It'll all be worked out eventually."

She handed Chris to Piper and took a deep breath. She went to close her eyes as she grasped the ring but Phoebe interrupted her before she could concentrate.

"Wait. Will you come back when everything is fixed. Just so we know that things turned out okay. That we didn't do everything for nothing."

Piper looked at her feet and added, "That we didn't lose Chris for nothing."

Mel was silent for a minute. "You didn't lose him. He's never been gone." She hesitated before continuing, "I'll be back." Except if I don't make it back.

She ran her finger over the pink stone on the ring and closed her eyes.


As soon as Phoebe stopped struggling Matt let her down gently and stepped back. He stared at who had just come through the attic wall. An older girl and a small child who couldn't be more then 2 or 3. The older one was carrying a bundle of blankets in her arms and looking around the room with interest. Her eyes flashed to everyone on the attic before settling on Chris.

Chris stepped closer and stared at the girl. She was tall with long dark hair. Her blue eyes held Chris's gaze for a minute before she smiled smugly and looked down next to her. The little girl had slightly curly pale blond hair and was staring up at her with a confused look on her face.

"You okay, Pay?"

The little girl's face visibly relaxed and she nodded slowly before turning her gaze to look at everyone else. Her eyes were the same color as the older girls. After looking at everyone she finally saw Chris.

"Uncle Chris!", she yelled and ran towards him. He bent down a little to catch her as she jumped up on him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. He hugged her back and then settled her on his hip. He turned his attention back to the older girl.

They stared at each other for another minute before stepping forward at the same time and embracing. The sisters watched in interest as the girl held the bundle she was carrying away from Chris. Finally they let go of each other and stepped back.

"What is that? How did you get here? Mel said Wyatt took you guys. How did you get away?!"

The girl just smiled and said, "I'm amazing like that. But we can talk about that later. We have more important things to talk about." She glanced down at what she was carrying. "So I'm guessing Mel told you all about Bianca and her little problem, right?"

Chris raised his eyebrows. "What problem?"

Prue rolled her eyes as she said, "You know. The one she had for about 9 months after you left."

Piper looked at Leo and smiled a little. Mel had told them that Chris didn't know. He was going to be shocked when he got this news.

Chris nose wrinkled as he said, "9 months...you mean she was... And you didn't tell me?!"

"How were we supposed to tell you?! We had no idea where you were. Plus you were trying to fix this mess. We didn't want to bother you."

Chris shook his head. "So you're telling me that my girlfriend- no, my fiancé - was pregnant and you decided it wasn't important enough to find me and tell me?" He thought about it for a second before quietly saying, "Wait. If it's been more then 9 months then she had it right? Is that what that is?" He gestured to the bundle in the girl's arms.

She just looked at him and handed it to him. They passed Peyton so that she was now with the older girl. Chris held it a little bit away from him before slowly unwrapping the blanket to reveal a baby with tan skin and a puff of dark hair on it's head. It's eyes were closed and it's mouth parted in a peaceful sleep.

"I put a spell on her to make her sleep so she wouldn't get upset and blow our cover. She should wake up in an hour or two."

Chris just continued to stare at the baby girl. "A girl. I have a daughter." He glance up at the girl. "How old is she? What's her name? Is she healthy?"

The girl answered, "She's almost 4 months. She's was born a little premature and is a little underweight but she is perfectly healthy. Wyatt has just been calling her Phoenix."

He nodded absentmindedly and cradled the baby in his right arm. He brought his left hand up to stroke her cheek. "Phoenix? Isn't that a boy name? And a bird?"

"Well I guess it's because of Bianca. And it fits with the whole P thing, you know?"

He nodded again and muttered, "Phoenix." Then he carefully unwrapped the blanket all the way and gently pulled her left arm out. He turned it over so he could see the bottom and traced the bird shaped symbol on her arm.

"Bianca's was red.", he stated referring to the light brown color of the picture. "Her's almost looks like a birthmark."

The girl replied, "I think it's because she's only half Phoenix. She'll probably be able to flame out like Bianca was. But she'll also most likely have a lot of Charmed powers as well. She's going to be strong. Just like her parents."

Chris looked at the other small girl and said, "How has she been? Is she doing okay?"

The girl nodded and said, "Pretty much. She's missed you. When Wyatt took us she got really scared because they split us up. But she just kept screaming until they finally gave her back to me."

Chris said, "But how did you escape?"

Prue cut in before they could get her reply. "Wait a minute. Before we go into all these details do you think we could clear some stuff up first. If that's Peyton then you have to be Prue right?"

She nodded. "Yep. The one and only." She thought about it a second before continuing, "Actually I guess that's not completely true in this time." She looked at Matt. "Hey, Matt. Where the hell have you been loser?"

He grinned at her. "You know I've really missed you, you slut. I think Wyatt was catching on to me and had someone tailing me. So I had to avoid you guys for awhile. When I came back you were gone and there was a note on the front door telling me where Mel had gone. Then I followed her here."

Chris said to Prue, "So, what happened to you two?"

She sighed and said, "Mel went out for milk. Not even 10 minutes after she left these demons shimmered in and took me and Peyton down there to Wyatt. He was keeping us in some magic proof chamber but I was able to get into the guard's mind and get him to undo the spell. Then I got Peyton to summon the baby and we said the spell to come to you. It was really a lot easier then I thought it was going to be. How are things going where you came from? Why are you even here? Where's Mel?"

"I thought I removed the threat to Wyatt. I figured out who it was but he stabbed me before I could get him. I thought that everything would change once I figured it out but nothing did. I mean Wyatt's still evil right? Mel came here after she realized what happened to you and summoned me. When we figured out nothing had changed she went to the future to see what did happen."

Young Prue nodded and sighed. "This is such a mess. Can nothing be simple in our lives?"

Chris just laughed and shook his head.

"Have you been around all these years?"

Prue made a face at him and turned to look at everyone else in the attic. "So where are we in time? What's been going on with all of you?'

They all looked at each other before Phoebe grinned and said, "Piper and Leo got married yesterday!"

The surprise was apparent on Prue's face but she quickly covered it up by saying, "Wow! I was not expecting that."

Chris muttered, "Yeah. Neither was I."

Suddenly Peyton giggled and said, "Aunt Mel."

Prue looked at her and said, "We'll see Aunt Mel soon, honey. Okay?"

Peyton shook her head. "No. Aunt Mel. Where she? Here soon."

Prue sighed and said, "Yeah. She's going to see some people who might be able to help us? You have to be a good girl until she comes back, okay? She'll be so proud of you when she gets back. She might even give you a present!"

Peyton leaned back and laughed. "Yay yay yay yay yay! Presents! Soon."

Prue grinned and said to Chris, "How long ago did she leave?"

Matt responded for him, "She didn't leave that long ago. Maybe an hour. I don't know when she'll be back. I guess it depends on how bad things are in the future."

Prue nodded and said, "I guess all we can do now is wait."


When Mel opened her eyes she wasn't where she expected. She was in the sunroom but so was what looked like everyone else in the family. Grams and Grandma are here. So are Mom, Dad, the aunts and uncles. There's Wyatt and Chris. She saw two young boys being passed around between everyone. And Wyatt and Chris again? When is this?

Everyone was going around hugging and laughing. They look so happy. Mel waited for someone to notice her but nobody did. Chris looked straight at her but didn't even say anything. They must not be able to see me. That's weird. I didn't even try to come here.

She looked closer at Wyatt. He was laughing and smiling along with everyone else. He was happy. And more importantly he looked good. Better then she had ever remembered him looking. There isn't an evil thought in his entire body. Chris did get it done. This is how things stay.

Suddenly she felt herself being pulled away from this scene. She closed her eyes. Okay, now I'm going back. The pull stopped and she opened her eyes with a smile on her face. It quickly faded as she saw a different scene then the one she was expecting.

Phoebe was sitting at the glass table in the sunroom. There was a baby in a baby carrier on the ground next to her. Phoebe's foot was on the carrier and was gently rocking it as the baby slept. Hey, that's me. Wyatt came running into the room quickly followed by Chris. Wyatt looked like he was about 4 and Chris looked like he was about 3.

"Shhh. Don't wake up the baby, guys." They both stopped running and slowly tiptoed through the room. As soon as the reached the doorway they started running again. They went up the stairs quickly, laughing the entire way. Phoebe grinned and shook her head a little.

"Aunt Phoebe! Aunt Phoebe! Aunt Phoebe! Aunt Phoebe!"

Phoebe looked up with a concerned look on her face as the boys came sprinting back down the stairs. She ran to meet them and bent down to their level. "What is it?! What's wrong?!"

They were both out of breath and tried to explain as fast as they could. Between them trying to talk over one another and Chris's inability to pronounce his r's and l's Mel didn't get much of what they were saying"

"Mommy...water...said...ouchy...mommy...boo boo...baby coming!"

Well I understood that part. Apparently Phoebe did too because she went running up the stairs yelling at the boys, "Stay here and call your daddy. I'll be right back. Watch the baby for me, okay?" She disappeared up the stairs before they could answer her.

Wyatt and Chris looked at each other for a minute with wide eyes before yelling together, "DADDYYYY!!" The baby woke up with a start and began to cry. The boys looked at her and yelled again, "DADDY!"

Leo orbed in saying, "Boys, you know when Daddy's working you're not supposed to call him unless it's an emergency."

"It is! Aunt Phoebe said to call you. The baby's coming!", Wyatt almost yelled. Chris nodded urgently in agreement. This is when Piper had Prue. This is only a couple of months after where I was at first.

Leo's eyes widened and he said, "What?!" He quickly bent down like Phoebe had and said to them, "Okay. Can you guys do something for me?" The boys nodded solemnly. "I need you to stay down here with the baby for a couple minutes while I go make sure Mommy is okay. You be good boys and take care of your cousin." He quickly kissed them both on their foreheads and orbed away.

The boys looked at each other before sitting next to the baby carrier. Chris put his hand on the edge and started rocking it while Wyatt leaned over and tickled the baby. "Shhh. Don't cry. Everything is going to be okay, baby."

Chris copied his brother, saying, "Baby don cry. It okay." The baby began to settle down as they continued rocking her. I don't remember Wyatt ever being like this for me when I was older.

She felt the tug again and she closed her eyes. Maybe this time I'll be back. Everything stopped and she opened her eyes a little. She looked through eyelids and sighed before opening them all the way.

It was Halloween. There was a giant bowl of candy on the table by the door and posters of black cats, witched, werewolves, and vampires all over. They are all so stereotypical. Vampires do not look like that at all. Or witches.

Piper came walking out of the kitchen with a plate of cookies on them. Ooo. I miss Aunt Piper's cookies. Leo followed her with a big bowl of popcorn. They placed them on the dining room table, which Mel noticed was filled with other food.

Paige came through the door next. She waddles slowly through the room and into the living room. Oh, my god. She is huge. She sank slowly onto the armchair and breathed out. "Whew. I cannot wait until I get this baby out of me. I don't remember being this big when I was pregnant with the twins."

Piper responded saying, "That's a little ironic don't you think? It's sort of funny. In a way."

Paige just glared at her. I do remember them saying Henry was a big baby. The biggest out of all of us. And he came late too.

Before Paige could say anything back to Piper what sounded like a stampede started form upstairs. What the hell is that? Suddenly all the kids came running down the stairs. Some of them went into the dining room to the food. Some went into the living with Paige and Piper.

Leo, who was standing at the foot of the stairs, grinned at Coop and he came down carrying a small girl no older then 2 and in a pumpkin costume in his arms. That's Bree.

"I think whoever invented candy and whoever invented Halloween were in league to try and take us out." Leo nodded in agreement with the Cupid as they walked into the living room.

Piper looked up from the flashlight she was fixing as they came in and said, "Where are Phoebe and Henry?"

Coop answered, "They're upstairs trying to clean up. It's not fair for you to have to do it all." Halloween did always destroy the Manor. It always looked like a bomb went off afterwards.

Piper just shook her head and said, "They don't have to do that. It can't be that bad."

Coop laughed a little and muttered to Leo under his breath, "She haven't seen what it looks like up there. It's not easy getting 8 kids dressed up." Leo just laughed.

Phoebe and Henry came down the stairs and started gathering all the kids into the living room. Once they had all sat somewhere on the floor or couch Mel looked at all them in their costumes.

Wyatt was a cowboy. He was a cowboy for like 5 years in a row. Chris was an Indian. Prue was a witch and Mel was a fairy. Cassie is so adorable in her cheerleader costume. One of the twins was an angel while the other was a devil. And then Bree is a pumpkin. I think we all wore that costume one Halloween.

As soon as all the kids were settled Phoebe began giving instructions. "Okay, everyone. Listen up. I want everyone to stay together tonight. Uncle Coop, Uncle Henry, and Uncle Leo are going to take you guys out trick or treating okay? If any of you get tired just tell one of them and they'll bring you home. I want everyone on their best behavior. And nobody eat any candy until you get home!"

All of the kids nodded in agreement. They all scrambled to get up and ran to the front door. Wyatt and Chris hung back and went up to the sisters. "Can me and Chris go out by ourselves this year? I am 11 you know." I'm pretty sure he started going out by himself before he was 11.

Phoebe looked over at Piper nodded and said, "But only if you check in every half hour, okay?" The boys quickly looked at each other before turning back to their mom and nodding their heads. "Okay, then. Have fun and be safe." They both turned and went run out of the house as Piper called behind them, "Don't forget to check in!" Wyatt would never offer to take Chris out any other year. How come all of these memories seem different?

Paige commented, "I remember the first Halloween I went around on my own with my friends I got brought home by the police." Piper and Phoebe just looked at her. "I guess you don't have to worry about that though." She muttered to herself, "At least not yet."

"Paige!"

Mel felt the now familiar tug again and quickly shut her eyes. She was eager to see what the next memory would be. As soon as it stopped her eyes popped open and she looked around her.

The house was still decorated but not for Halloween this time. It was someone's birthday.

Piper came out of the kitchen with a trash bag. She picked up bits of wrapping paper and Chris came running down the stairs. "Hey, mom. I'm going to bed, okay?"

Piper nodded and said, "Okay." She hugged him and kissed him on the forehead. "I can't believe you're 14 already. Time flies, huh?" 14?

Chris just nodded and said, "Thanks for the party. Night! I love you." He ran back up the stairs and Mel heard a door close. Aunt Piper died the morning of Chris's 14th birthday. This doesn't make any sense.

Piper went back to cleaning up as Mel felt the tug again. Okay, I just want to figure out what's going on now. She didn't even bother to close her eyes this time but instead watched as flashes of the years went by. She caught brief glimpses of all the kids growing up and going to school.

It just kept spinning until she got dizzy and closed her eyes. As soon as she did it stopped suddenly. It was cold wherever she was. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped.

She was on top of the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night. Of course I have to be scared of heights. What memory is this? I don't remember ever being up here. Only Elders come up here usually.

"That's not completely true, Melinda."

Mel spun around and looked at the person in front of her. "Who the hell are you?"

He replied, "I'm surprised you don't recognize me. I'm the Angel of Destiny."


AN: I want lots of reviews. Tell me what you like and what you don't like. It doesn't matter just tell me what you think!