Chapter Ten

As soon as Chris arrived inside his room, he knew something was wrong. The door was wide open, for one, and Chris was absolutely positive that he'd closed it when he'd stomped into the place. Also, the shirt that he'd taken off was missing from its place on the ground. And, the most obvious factor to anything being wrong: his mom was yelling hysterically downstairs.

Coming to the conclusion that they'd probably discovered he was missing, Chris sighed and went over to the stairs. He descended leisurely, wanting to put off the moment where his mother yelled at him as much as she possibly could.

Too soon, however, he'd arrived in the living room. Not seeing anyone there, he simply headed to the kitchen. Judging by the sickly smell in there, someone had been cooking a potion up.

Chris shook himself slightly, trying to rid himself of nerves, before he stepped into the kitchen. As soon as he did so, his mother's voice died, and suddenly rose again.

"Where have you been?" she screeched out. Chris cringed and snuck a look to where his brother was standing. Wyatt seemed to be rather upset.

Actually, that was putting it mildly. Wyatt was royally pissed. Here he'd been, thinking that his little brother had been kidnapped, killed, or worse, and then, poof, he was back, safe and sound. Wyatt's face reddened slightly in anger, but he decided to leave the scolding to his mom, who was doing a really great job of it.

"How dare you leave without a word when we know demons are after you!" she was saying, hardly stopping to take a breath. "You, young man," she then said ominously, "are grounded!"

Chris opened his mouth to protest, but after a look at his mother's face, which told him she wasn't finished, he shut up.

Leo just watched from his spot near the table. He'd been so afraid, thinking that his younger son had been killed or something, that now he was too shocked to say anything, even to calm his wife. Although, he did know that once Piper got started, it was nearly impossible to stop her.

"And don't you give me that crap about you being too old for that either," she continued, not noticing that Chris hadn't said anything at all. "While you live in my house, you live under my rules!"

Chris just rubbed at his eyes absentmindedly. He wondered when his mother would be done with her tirade. He hoped it would be soon, since he had so much to tell her, but, knowing Piper, it was unlikely.

After taking a couple more minutes of being yelled at without intervention from either his father or his brother, Chris raised his hands in a sort of surrender.

Piper, surprised by the gesture, abruptly shut up. Leo smiled at his son, recognizing the movement he'd made with his hands almost instantly. It was the same move he himself used when Piper was very upset. Chris must have picked it up from him.

"You done?" Chris asked his mother quietly.

Piper paused, trying to figure out if there was something else she wanted to say. Finding nothing, she nodded.

"Good," Chris said, "because I have an idea."

-)-(-

"So let me get this straight," Paige was clarifying, mostly for Piper's benefit. "You want us to use you as bait?"

Chris had managed to lure his entire family back into the living room, to actually get a say in the plans this time. He'd thought about it carefully, and he'd figured out that Aunt Paige's plan was the best way to find and get rid of the new Source.

"Yes," Chris answered, ignoring his brother's murderous look.

"No," Piper stated, however, with less vigor than before. After witnessing her younger son explode with anger about always being treated as less than Wyatt, she was trying to be a lot more cautious about denying this now.

"Yes," Chris insisted. "Don't you see? It's the perfect plan. I'll just step outside, and you three will follow me. When the demon pops up, you'll just throw him the potion, and that's it. Goodbye demon."

Even with the plan up his sleeve, Chris hadn't told them that it was actually the Source who was after him. He knew that if he even mentioned the name, he'd be locked up in his room and under a magical shield before he could say 'Charmed'. And, he needed to be a part of this vanquish. Chris needed to prove himself to his family. He needed to show them that he was just as good as Wyatt.

Sure, he wasn't planning on vanquishing the Source by himself, that would be suicide (even Wyatt had trouble with that), but he was thinking that as soon his mother and aunts saw the Source step out onto the streets, they'd remember the spell and destroy the demon ruler.

Of course, this was banking on a bit too much, but this was the only way that would work. And, besides, Chris was planning to go take a look at the Book of Shadows before they executed the plan anyway. If the sisters had forgotten the spell, he'd simply remind them, and then, everything would be over. Easy.

His family seemed to be agreeing, albeit reluctantly. All except for Wyatt, who couldn't stop glaring daggers at Chris. He seemed to be asking if Chris was crazy or something.

Chris, noticing his older brother, simply sent him a sort of silly smile before turning back to the rest of his family. He didn't notice Wyatt tense slightly.

"Why do you want to do this so bad?" Wyatt then asked, his low voice carrying the tone of worry for his brother.

Chris looked at him with wide, innocent-looking eyes. "I just have to," he answered.

Wyatt frowned. That wasn't much of a reply, but before he could say anything, Chris stood up.

"I have to go change," he said quickly, fingering his shirt. "I stink of Underworld."

Not even waiting for an answer, Chris left. Wyatt sighed as he watched his brother go. He couldn't explain it, but he had a very bad feeling about this.

-)-(-

Chris was so grateful that nobody had stopped him. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep on lying for much longer.

Nervously, he took the stairs two at a time, and reached the attic fairly quickly.

Once there, he darted to the Book, and opened it.

It wasn't long before Chris finally found what he was looking for, the Source's vanquishing spell.

Smiling slightly, Chris grabbed a nearby pen and rolled up his sleeve.

On his inner arm, he wrote down all the words to the spell. He hadn't exactly memorized it yet, and although it seemed to be pretty simple, he was afraid that he might forget it in the heat of battle.

Once he was done, he put the pen where he found it, and headed to his bedroom. He'd been right: he did smell of Underworld, so he had to change.

Closing the door behind him, this time making sure to lock it, Chris looked around his room. Well, at least Wyatt hadn't touched anything except for the dirty shirt, which was going in the laundry anyway.

He went over to his closet, and quickly tore off his clothes before replacing them for clean ones. He felt as if he had to cleanse himself before setting out on his mission, for some reason. It was definitely an odd feeling.

Shrugging it off, Chris looked at himself in the mirror. His green eyes had a few dark shadows under them, and his hair was all messed up from his little trip 'down there'. But otherwise, he looked perfect for what he was about to do.

He was finally going to prove to the world that he wasn't just the brother of the Twice-Blessed, or the son of a Charmed one. He was going to prove that he, Chris Halliwell, was a strong witch. One who could plan the death of the Source of All Evil.

(A/N) Yaay! Tenth chapter, and now the plans have been set in motion! What do you guys think will happen? Chris is planning on facing the Source, and he didn't even tell the sisters... smart? I think not, but, oh well, he's trying to prove himself, so I guess it's fine.

Anyway, let's start thanking all my lovely reviewers! These guys are gorgeous and wonderful, and keep me updating every week! Drunk, Mrs-Fanfiction, Patry (who was really good at guessing Piper's reaction!), and Funnie. You guys rock my socks!

See you next Friday, with the next chapter, and with Chris's plan being set in motion! Anyone excited? I know I am!