Unplanned Changes
Chapter 10
By: teal-lover
Summary: Chris changed more than he ever expected with his trip to the past, which in turn lead to more changes to his future. Series finale fix.
Warnings—a little bit of cursing here. But its for a good cause:)
AN: epilog to follow.
Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or any of the characters or get any money from writing this fiction.
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2009
Victor Bennett rocked the feverish child in his arms, smoothing back the dampened brown locks away from his forehead to keep him cool. Chris was mumbling incoherently and his grandfather was beginning to panic.
He picked up the cordless phone again to dial his oldest daughter. If they couldn't reach Paige, he was going to have to rush the little boy to the emergency room.
Piper would hit the roof when she learned of the child's symptoms. He wasn't sure what had happened to change her mind after he and his grandsons when back to 2004, but something had spooked her—all of them now that he thought of itInstead of pushing Chris away like they had before, his mother, father, and aunts now showered him with love and attention. Both brothers were treated equally like a prince—special in their own right, but equal just the same.
They only thing he may have had to worry about now was if the boys grew up to be spoiled. Thought he didn't think so with as down to earth and happy both children were. Except now…Victor frowned worriedly. His normally cheerful and exuberant little grandson was presently curled up against his side, whimpering softly as the tears streamed down his flushed cheeks.
Victor grabbed the wet rag again and pressed it to Chris' forehead, desperately hoping to quell the fever.
When that didn't seem to work , he cursed softly and scooped up the tiny body and raced toward the back bedroom where his other grandson slept soundly. He flipped on the light to rouse him. "Wyatt, wake up. We've got to go…"
The blonde child rubbed his eyes sleepily. "What's wrong, grandpa?"
"Chris is sick. I've been trying to reach your Aunt Paige, but she's not answering. We've got to get your brother to the emergency room."
Wyatt sat up, more alert now as he glanced from his brother to the phone dangling in the older man's hands. He scrunched up his face in a half-amused, half-annoyed expression that seemed out of place on the six-year-old. "You called her on her phone?":
He ignored his grandfather's flush of embarrassment as he called into the air, "Aunt Paige? Chris needs you!"
Less than a minute later, the youngest Charmed One orbed in, the boy's parents frantically in tow.
"What's wrong?" all three intoned while Leo gathered the sick child in his arms.
Wyatt answered after moving to touch his little brother. "Nothing, he's not sick. Not really."
Leo ignored the six-year-old's diagnosis and turned to his wife worriedly, "Piper, he's burning up! Paige, heal him, please!" the former elder told his sister-in-law needlessly since she had already moved to do so.
Fearing that she was still too new at the task, Paige bit her lip nervously when the familiar yellow glow didn't come. "He's not healing," she told the others.
Wyatt interrupted again in a sing-song voice, "That's because…because…he's not sick."
Piper scolder her oldest, "Hush, Wyatt. Let Paige concentrate on healing your brother."
He shrunk back into the corner at that. The reprimand lasted all of a minute before he tried again in exasperation. "You guys—it's not going to work because Chris is not sick!"
Wyatt stomped his foot in frustration as they ignored him again. Somehow, he needed to get their attention. When the idea came to him, he made sure to stand as far away from his mother as possible, muttering under his breath, 'well it wouldn't be the first time I've faced certain death.'
The blonde-haired child took a deep breath just before he yelled at the top of his lungs, "SON OF A BITCH! Why won't any of you fucking listen to me!"
If it wasn't for the fact that every pair of eyes in the vicinity turned slowly to stare at him, he would have sworn that his mom had frozen the room. Even his brother's mouth formed a perfect little "o".
Wyatt took another step back, ensuring that he was well out of reaching range from his mother who had that 'you are not going to be able to sit for a week' look.
"Um, now that I have your attention, there's no use in keeping it a secret anymore. Chris is just getting his memories from before."
Victor was the only one to nod in acceptance, while everyone else looked on in surprise.
Leo was the first to speak on it. "Before what Wyatt?" His older boy couldn't have possibly known what had happened to his brother. They were so careful to ensure that Wyatt never knew he had been evil in a previous life. Besides, he thought absurdly, the boy was only six! But as he watched the little blonde haired child shift uncomfortably—the action of one so much older, he began to doubt that.
Ice blue eyes fixed Leo with a piercing stare. "Before. When he was mom's whitelighter. Before he di—uh, I mean, got hurt saving me."
Piper shook her head in denial, even though she knew it had to be true. "But he's sick, just like you were a few months ago—" she paused and glanced at the other adults in the room . A few months ago—when Wyatt had had similar symptoms, though no where near as bad. His fever had broken and he seemed fine. Except that the little boy was different afterward.
Sometimes, he would look at them with suspicion and worry when they got close to Chris. In those times, Wyatt would watch over his little brother like a hawk. But then at other times, he was his normal six-year-old, carefree and exuberant self.
The adults around him had found it endearing for such a small child to be so protective of his baby brother. But maybe—maybe he wasn't such a small child after all.
Piper put her hands on her hips and shot him a questioning look. "Wyatt? Something you want to tell me?"
He gave his best innocent, wide-eyed look. "No mommy."
"Uh huh. Then how do you know what's wrong with your brother?"
Wyatt toed his foot on the carpet and locked his hands behind his back. "Uh, lucky guess?"
Piper stalked over to her oldest son and leaned down, grabbing his chin to look him in the eye. "Wyatt Matthew Halliwell! Unless you want to be grounded until the next time you turn 18, then you had better start talking!"
Wyatt sighed dramatically as he realized that she was on to him. "Because that's what happened to me. He'll be ok once his mind adjusts. It's just a little much for a five year old to handle right now, so its making his body go kinda' crazy"
Piper glanced at her youngest son, currently nestled in his father's arms, with a bit of trepidation. 'If Wyatt's wrong and Chris is actually sick, then we're wasting precious time.' she turned again to her oldest, the tears streaming down her face. "Please Wyatt, are you absolutely certain? Because I can't—" I can't loose him again…she thought.
He offered her a reassuring smile that didn't seem to fit the small features. "I know mommy. Don't worry. I'm sure."
The eldest Charmed One visibly relaxed at the small boy's words. She hugged him quickly before rushing over to her youngest, smoothing his hair back in a tender, comforting gesture.
All they could do now was wait.
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Hours turned to days, and to the family's relief, Christopher's symptoms gradually got better. Like his brother, he too seemed older at times, but sporadically and unpredictably.
12 months later, Piper found herself busily making a cake from scratch. She added each ingredient with more precision than she ever did making a potion. Everything had to be perfect for Chris' sixth birthday.
Leo joined her in the kitchen, breathing heavily with exhaustion after having just taken the boys to the playground.
She noted his flushed cheeks and grinned widely. "You look like they ran you ragged."
Leo frowned. "They did! Piper, I don't get it. I thought with all of their adult memories, they'd be more mature – not bouncing up and down on the jungle gym and making me run and spin them on the merry-go-round!"
She laughed at her husband's temporary frustration, because she knew that he secretly enjoyed it. The way his eyes always lit up when the children asked him to take them to the playground was the first clue. He loved spending time with the boys, anyway he could get it. "You know, Leo. They're still just little boys. Besides, I asked Wyatt how old he was after Chris was sick, and do you know what he told me?"
Leo shook his head in bewilderment before she continued. "He looked up at me with those big blue eyes and smiled proudly – both of his two front baby teeth missing—and he said SIX. And a half. But come on mom, I'm not gonna waste an opportunity to do it all over again and have fun. Besides, I can make sure that Chris does too."
Leo laughed until his wife trailed off, the smile suddenly vanishing from her features.
"And then I asked if that's why he stayed behind…"
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"When I—your mom, went back to the future, is that why you stayed behind?"
Wyatt's eyes flashed with a dark intensity as he stared up at his mother. "It's one reason," he told her in no uncertain terms. "You will NOT hurt him again."
"Wyatt I—"
"I know, mom. You're trying. And you're doing good so far. I'll let you know if you're not. I'm here to look out for him. The Chris that I grew up with died alone at the hands of a darklighter. And all because he felt that his family didn't care enough about him. I'm not going to let that happen again. No matter what it takes."
Piper stared after her oldest in surprise as he ran off suddenly and tackled his little brother to the ground. She watched them giggling madly and rolling around in the grass. When they grew tired of rough housing, they ran off and dangled from the jungle gym.
Her little boys may have had the memories of grown men, and at times, it even shone through. But hearing the childish laughter made her realize that they were indeed, simply little boys.
Her gaze shifted to the swings where her youngest had now found his way over to, squealing in delight as his brother pushed him higher. It warmed her heart to see Chris so happy. He wasn't like that at all when he came back from the future shortly before he died there. He had such an inherent sadness in him back then.
And Piper saw it , even then. Knew something was amiss, but still tried her damnedest to refute it-. Now Piper couldn't deny that she had been the cause of it. Her future self had made sure of it. Once again, the guilt weighed down heavily on her shoulders. Piper couldn't believe that she ever thought that changing him was the solution.
She remembered the first time he came to them from the future. He had a fire and determination that screamed 'Halliwell' through and through. And if you looked deep enough, just under his fictitious mask of indifference, you could see the depths of compassion and strength.
You could see that he would do anything for his family. Even if it meant giving up who he was. Piper looked away at that thought, her face blushing with shame and tears. She couldn't allow that to happen again. It was time that she returned the favor, even if it meant living in constant fear for the next few decades. She couldn't allow herself to be guided by the fear that someone or something would come by and snatch his life right out from under them.
No, none of that could be allowed to come to pass. Piper and her family would just have to be diligent in protecting Chris. She turned back to her boys playing, and noticed the little blonde watching her with a carefully guarded expression. He smiled and waived, and she thought with relief, 'at least we'll have help.'
TBC…Epilog