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12. Secrets In The Past
HOURS LATER
The sisters were still sitting in the attic, looking at this weird photo and not knowing what to think of it. Obviously, they needed someone who could explain this, and just this one person had returned with his son. Both of them were coming up the stairs. "Leo!" all women cried out at once.
"Whoa," the Elder said in greeting smiling. "I didn't know I was that wanted back home. What am I needed for?"
"To explain this weird picture I've found in Mom's photo album," Paige said and gave him the album. "To our surprise, it shows you and Chris in a cool sixty style. Flower power, eh?"
"What?" both men exclaimed at the same time, and Chris walked slowly closer, looking at the photo curiously.
The young man felt a weird sensation going through him. He grinned all of a sudden and put a hand on Leo's shoulder, standing there casually. "I see, Leo, your act on women works perfectly. Three women at hand, cool. You volcano can't just get enough, eh?"
Leo blushed immediately whereas the sisters were certainly amused. Only Wyatt looked confused. "Can we forget this for a moment?" Leo pleaded concerned. "I think Chris is possessed by his past life."
"Oh," Piper said and walked over to her men. "What do you suggest we do now? Chris seems normal."
"Whoa. What happened?" Chris asked his family.
"You revealed some interesting facts about your Dad," Paige offered grinning. "I didn't know that you could be that cool. The sixties were a cool era in my eyes."
Chris just looked perplexed but remained silent. He thought it'd be best.
Leo sighed and turned to Piper. "I think it's best we'll summon Patty for help. And Phoebe." The middle sister looked up curiously. "You have experience with past lives. You should look for the spells in the Book again."
"On it," Phoebe replied and searched for the wanted spells.
Paige and Piper worked on the candles to summon their mother. They needed some information from her, because Chris was haunted by his past life and Leo was suddenly quiet about the Flower Power era. Well, they'd get answers – somehow. The two sisters nodded at each other and recited,
Hear these words, hear my cry,
Spirit from the other side.
Come to me, I summon thee,
Cross now the great divide.
Swirling lights appeared and revealed Patty smiling. "Hey girls. Leo, Chris. What's going on? Why did you summon me?"
Again Chris felt not like himself and grinned all of a sudden. He walked over and hugged the shocked woman. "Patty! Nice to see you again. You look as young as ever. What's happened?"
"I see why I'm needed," Patty answered sighing.
"And what happened to Leo who greeted women with 'Leo – like the zodiac sign' and 'being hot like a volcano'. He seems so normal now."
Leo blushed again. "See, that's why you're needed. Chris isn't like himself since he watched this picture of him and me in your photo album," he explained calmly, hoping she had some answers.
Patty sighed but smiled at the embarrassed Leo. "Let me see this photo!" Paige handed the album over, and her mother gasped shocked. "Now I understand why you need me. The man next to Leo on this picture is CJ."
Meanwhile Chris was himself again. "Uh, what's happened? It happened again, didn't it? Damn it!" Then he noticed Patty. "Oh, hi Grandma. What are you doing here, by the way?"
Patty just shook her head amused whereas Piper had some questions. "Mom, who is CJ and I get that he may be my son's past life. Why can he switch so easily between these two?"
Patty shook her head again but this time to hide her tears. "It's a long story, and complicated as well since Mom had her problems with this one." Her three girls raised an eyebrow but nodded, knowing their Grams well enough. But Patty could read their looks. "Fine. I'll tell you everything." She turned to Leo. "Leo, can you speak with Chris or CJ meanwhile, to distract him, please? You already know some parts of it."
Leo nodded sadly and guided his son away.
"Mom, what's this about?" Paige asked curiously but in a serious tone, she went on, "I can see that this secret is huge. Even bigger than I was, I guess. Am I right?"
"Partly," their mother admitted sighing. "But I'd need the family tree to explain this. And Wyatt is definitely not the first male witch in our family."
"Yeah, how would women have children if not for men," Chris appeared again smirking but Leo followed immediately, dragging his son back.
"Sorry," the Elder apologized and both walked away again, with Chris firmly in Leo's hold.
All smiled. Phoebe stood up and got their family tree, giving it to their Mom whereas Piper repeated her question, "Mom, who was CJ?"
Patty watched her family tree with sad eyes and traced over some unknown parts. "He was a long distant cousin of mine, born with some Warren powers and a relative of Mom's not accepted brother."
The three sisters gasped but remained silent, to give their mother time to collect her thoughts about this story.
WITH LEO & CHRIS
"So man, you're a whitelighter if I got it right. It seems that a lot has happened in between," CJ asked curiously and sat down lazily. "This house seemed more familial now."
"Yes, I was a whitelighter but now I'm an Elder and married a witch, one of Patty's kids. Meanwhile we have a kid as well. A boy named Wyatt." Leo smiled. "And we already know to have another boy soon."
"I see. And how do I fit in, by the way? I feel like possessed, or like two souls in one body." The young man sighed and scratched his head. "This is so weird."
Leo sighed. "You're my future son, or better his past life. It's kinda complicated since you're here to save your big brother and you came from the future."
"Whoa, what?" CJ asked stunned and looked at Leo in disbelief. "I'm your son – from the future and his past life? Wait, to be his past life, I've had to be a witch. Or is it wizard? I'm confused."
"Hey, calm down. I know it's quite a shock but you have powers as well. Or you had, but you didn't know of them, I take it." Leo looked directly at him. "Can I ask how you died if you're up to it? It'd help me, and my son."
CJ accepted nodding. "I don't remember much. After some time, I realized I was being followed by some strange people and it only happened after I met Patty." He sighed. "I could feel them though, but one day they were after me and I could see some fire coming toward me, and there's nothing. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, CJ," Leo said, patting the young man on his back. "I guess, the strange people you mentioned were demons and a Warren witch is for them like they got six right. You were simply a prize, a high one."
"Wait. Demons? And what do you mean with 'Warren witch'? I thought they're Halliwells." CJ put his head on his hands. "My head hurts. This is all so much. When can I get my peace?"
"Soon. Your spirit just has to leave this body. If it doesn't work, the Power of Three will help. The three sisters will find a way to help you." Leo assured the young man and watched him with a bit of concern. "CJ?"
"I'm fine, Leo. No need to worry, man." Still, the body began to sway and the Elder could just catch the young man on time. "Fine," CJ whispered, ready to fall asleep.
"Ladies!" Leo yelled alarmed. "I could use some help here!"
Running footsteps were heard and all women, mainly Piper, looked at him concerned.
EARLIER – THE SECRET
"What do you mean with cousin, Mom?" Phoebe asked half in shock but also curiously. "You mean, CJ was family? How did Grams react?"
Patty sighed but looked at her three kids. "As I said, he was a long distant cousin of mine, a long lost relative of Mom's very distant brother, because his name was Johns and Mom's maiden name was Johnson, remember?" The three sisters nodded. "And well, he also showed some Warren powers."
"Which were?" Paige wanted to know now. Looking at her sisters, she could see that they had adopted a curious look as well.
Their mother smiled. "Freezing like Piper, and also some telekinesis – like Prue had and Wyatt and Chris have, for sure. Anyway, we met on a party and I invited him to us." She snickered a bit. "Let's just say, Mom was not happy but accepted after I told her the whole story."
"How did CJ die, Mom?" Piper asked afraid. She didn't want to know but what if destiny wanted the same for her baby boy? Please not!
Patty lowered her head. "After he'd been here, at the Manor, CJ was followed by demons. I know he could sense them but didn't know how to defend himself. Well, one day the demons killed him in cold blood – with fire, as far as I could find out. I was crying and so was Mom." She wiped her tears away. "Anyway, I added him to the family tree, along with some other males."
"Can we see what you added?" Phoebe asked sadly.
Their mother sighed and whispered under her breath, Make seen what was not seen. The paper rippled and revealed the names which were hidden before. "See. All there, even CJ." She looked at the tree again. "I can see that you've finally updated it. Thanks!"
The three sisters smiled but Leo's frantic yell distracted them quickly. All women immediately ran over to the boys and were shocked to see Chris in Leo's arms, fighting an inner battle.
'BATTLE OF 'SOULS''
"Leo, what's going on? What's happened with our baby? Tell me," Piper demanded angrily and gestured to their son.
"I don't know," Leo replied concerned. "I was talking with CJ when suddenly he wasn't feeling well. I guess, Chris' soul wants to return, because of his mission and all, remember?"
"Right," Paige quickly agreed. "I think, we all need to calm down and think clearly, okay?" She looked at anyone and all took a deep breath before nodding. "Fine. Now we need to find a way to help Chris. So any ideas?"
"All right," Patty demanded firmly. "Piper, you stay with Leo and Chris. Phoebe, you work on a spell to free CJ, and Paige, you distract Wyatt meanwhile. I don't want him to see that."
Her three girls accepted this and began their work. Though Wyatt was not happy with being left out but he had no choice here! Paige brought him away while Phoebe worked on that spell. It should be helpful for both souls. However, Piper didn't want to leave her son's side. She was too worried about her baby.
"Dad?" came a distant whisper to Leo's ear and he turned to him expectantly. "He is so strong."
Leo leaned down and answered quietly, "Don't worry, son. See, the whole family is working on saving you. Phoebe on the spell, Paige on your brother and your Mom is right next to you. So, all cool." He kissed his son briefly on his forehead.
"Hey Christopher," Piper greeted her son smiling and got his attention. "It's going to be okay, I promise. You'll see. Your work isn't done yet, right?" He barely nodded. "See. All will be good."
Chris sighed and let his parents take over. For once it was good, not to be responsible for anyone. However, the soul within him gave him cool information about his Dad in his early days. Well, he'd tease him about this! This was really cool, and he couldn't wait to wake up finally.
"Got it!" Phoebe yelled in triumph and waved the paper in the air. "We can free CJ and give Chris his body back. And to have some peace here as well."
Paige walked back in with Wyatt, curious as well. But she held the young boy back still, as if anything would happen. "So what's going on? Can we have our neurotic whitelighter back, please? I miss him."
Chris chuckled a bit and his Grandma took charge. "Good. So, Phoebe, recite your spell and I will guide CJ to the afterlife – with Mom and Prue. Are we clear on all fronts?" Her family agreed nodding. "Okay, then let's get started!"
Phoebe stood up, took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Okay, I guess it should work. To have the neurotic side of the family back." Paige laughed whereas Piper was not amused.
"Just say it, Phoebs," Piper demanded firmly. "We have other things to do still. After all, we want to prevent a death." Her mother looked curiously at her. "Don't worry, Mom. We're taking care of it."
Her two sisters nodded and the older of the two began to recite her spell,
Beloved spirit of this family,
Thanks for being here.
Leave this body be
For good and free.
Slowly the second soul came out of Chris' body, looking shyly at anyone. CJ bowed his head slightly and reached out to take Patty's hand. They smiled at each other before going to the afterlife – with the rest of the clan.
"Okay, that was good … and weird," Paige commented dryly and turned to her younger nephew. "Any more interesting news about your Dad, the love volcano?"
Chris smiled at his aunt. "Yeah, but I'd like to speak with him alone about this time if you don't mind. I need to sort out my thoughts and Dad is the only one who can help me here."
"Okay," Piper agreed, standing up and taking Wyatt from her sister. "We three need to prepare several things for our meeting as well. And what if we need you?"
"Just send Wyatt. He could always find me."
The sisters simply nodded whereas Leo stood up as well. Turning to his son, he said, "So you want to speak with me, let's go then. I take it, we share a favorite place?" His son blushed nodding. "Alright, let's orb!" Father and son orbed away.
"Good," the eldest sister commented after two of her men had orbed away. "We should find more information about the Angels of Destiny. See if we can prevent my son's death at the end of his journey here. I don't want to see my child dead."
"We understand, Piper," Phoebe said and hugged her sister briefly. "Though losing Prue was hard, but losing a child would be harder. Just ask Grams."
"True," Paige agreed sadly. "But we're not going to let it happen. Our next generation won't have to make anymore sacrifices than we did. So we need to act now!"
"Thanks," Piper said and wiped some tears away. "Let's get started then! And Wyatt." Her son looked at her in wonder. "You stay here and play with your toys. I know you want your brother but give him some time, okay?" He nodded quickly. "Fine. Mommy and the aunts are working too."
Phoebe sat down again and worked on another spell. Paige went through several magical books they had here to find more information about the Angels of Destiny. Well, it was not easy! And Piper tried to think clearly but it wouldn't work. Her thoughts were onto her men. All of them.
FATHER & SON
On top of the Golden Gate Bridge, two orb sets formed. It was Leo and Chris, and immediately both men enjoyed their view over the city. They sat down and just remained silent for some time.
However, Leo couldn't wait any longer. "So son, what do you want to talk about? Is it about my old days or what? C'mon, talk to me. I'm curious here."
Chris laughed good naturally. "Of course, Mr Volcano. CJ told me very interesting facts about you, Dad. Be glad, I only told them your highlights and not all what you did at that time! Lady killer?"
Leo chuckled at seeing his son in such a good mood. "Well, how do you think I felt when you suddenly started babbling my guarded secrets out. The sisters didn't know that, and Patty died too young to babble. Thanks a lot, son."
"Sorry," he apologized grinning. "But still, I don't understand how CJ could take over me so quickly. I mean, one look at this picture and I was CJ, although we switched a few times."
Leo sighed but smiled still. "Yeah, it certainly was different from what happened to Phoebe years ago." He scratched his head in thinking. "Well, as why this happened to you so fast, I guess CJ's soul waited in you to end his circle. But I'm no expert in this field."
"And here I thought you were." The son looked at his father directly but still with some mischief in his eyes. "Mr. Lady killer had finally settled down and started a family. Nice. You surprised me there." Then he became serious again. "Dad? I think we need to talk about Gideon and his plans."
Leo slowly walked closer to his son. "You okay, buddy? It seems that CJ still remains within you. And you're right, we should talk about Gideon. He could be after you as well."
"It might be only his rest, but sorry again." He put his head on his knees. "Gideon scared me to death when he entered my mind, looking for information about the future and especially Wyatt. So, he's definitely after him, and me. What do we do now?"
"Well, I brought it up to the Elders but they wanted to find proof first. That would take time!" His son raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, for once trust them. We should pay them a visit soon. Together, if you like. After all, you wanted to, remember?"
"Yeah, I know." Chris sighed. "It's just I'm not a friend of them, here or in the future. Except you, naturally. Though Gideon has been an Elder for much longer than you. And he worked with the Cleaners. I bet the Tribunal doesn't know that yet."
"Good idea. We should do this soon. Create our own Tribunal, and find out who else works with him. There are not many for sure," Leo offered knowingly.
"Fine," Chris agreed annoyed. "But please after Mom's birthday! I don't want to face her wrath on that day, and you either."
"Don't worry, I'm fully aware of this." Leo touched his skin. "So, we're going after that day. Do you want to go back, son?"
"Not yet." Chris looked at his Dad again. "What makes me wonder is that you don't ask me how we share this favorite place here. Not curious, Dad?"
"I am but I thought you might tell me on your own. I didn't want to push you since I made enough mistakes when you grew up. It turned out well but still, I feel guilty," Leo admitted half crying, yet tried not to show it. Hopefully.
"Dad, it's okay. I can see how much that bothers you and you're going to change, I'm sure." Chris came closer to Leo. "If you want to, I'm going to tell you …
FLASHBACK
Leo readied his sons for a special trip, though Wyatt and Chris looked as if they were going to the arctic. He really wouldn't face his wife's wrath if anything happened to their boys! After all, their sons were just six and four years old. "Okay, I think we're done. Let's go!" he said proudly.
"Daddy, where are we going?" Wyatt asked curiously and took hold of his Dad's hand, just as Chris did on the other side. "You dressed up very warm."
"I know but I don't want you both to catch a cold, and we're going to a special place of mine," Leo explained calmly.
"Okay," Wyatt said nodding and let himself with his brother be orbed away. Opening his eyes again, he was met with a great view. "Cool!"
"Yeah," Chris agreed and let go of his Dad's hand.
"Chris, be careful!" Leo warned at seeing his son running around. "I don't want you to fall down!"
"Okay Daddy," Chris answered laughing and widened his arms to fly like a bird. "Really cool here, Dad."
Leo smiled at the fun his youngest son was having. So he turned to his eldest boy. "Wyatt, you okay? You suddenly seemed to have lost your voice. What's going on?"
"I … I," he began to stutter and Wyatt swallowed hard. "I didn't realize we were that high. And I … I don't like it."
"Oh." Leo was astonished but didn't know how to change this. He felt an Elder coming and wanted to hide his boys. "Wyatt, take Chris and hide! Quickly!" His son did as told and both boys vanished from his eyes. Sighing, he stood up and came face to face with his old mentor. "Gideon, what are you doing here? I have a free day, remember?"
"I know, but I wanted to remind you of your charges and your tasks. Though I also know that your family means a lot to you, yet you're an Elder now," the Elder said like a teacher. Well, he was working at Magic School.
"Don't worry, I won't forget but leave me alone for one day, please!" Leo was begging and hoped it'd work. Time ticked by slowly.
Behind the pillar, Wyatt had stiffened and looked at the Elder with hate. His little brother wondered about this but he wanted to go home now. However, Wyatt was focused on this sole Elder.
"Fine," Gideon said and orbed away. Finally.
Leo sighed in relief and called for his sons. "Wyatt, Chris, come out! We're going home now!" Immediately his boys ran into his arms, and the three of them orbed to the Manor.
END OF FLASHBACK
… Though the day ended badly, but I enjoyed it there," Chris finished smiling. "Wyatt is really afraid of heights, and this place here above the city became my sanctuary – for a long time. Maybe as well because I knew it was your favorite place."
Leo pulled his son closer to him. "That's good to hear. I take it we came up here more often but without Wyatt." He twinkled his eye. "Wanna go home?" His son nodded and so both men orbed back to the Manor.
AT THE MANOR – EARLIER
"All information gathered?" Piper asked in the round and her sisters nodded. "Fine. Then we can summon the Angel of Destiny. I won't let my baby boy sacrifice himself for the Greater Good! He is so young, damn it!"
"Calm and deep breaths, Piper," Paige suggested and touched her sister lovingly. "We won't let that happen. Chris has already sacrificed so much: his world, his fiancée and so much more. It's not going to happen, you understand."
Her sister nodded, and Phoebe added, "I wonder though if we meet the same Angel again, remember?" She looked around again. "When will they be back? I mean, Leo and Chris. Leo could stay here when we talk to the Angel, yet Chris should not."
"Agreed," Piper said determined but continued, "Though he knows about his destiny already, thanks to Kira and her vision. Or at least, from the future." She sighed. "I'm confused now."
"Okay, let's get this road started. The boys will be back soon," Phoebe concluded and grabbed for her sisters' hands. "All right, let's chant together:
Power of Three we summon thee,
And call to us the Angel of Destiny.
There was a wind forming in their midst just as Leo and Chris orbed back in. The Angel of Destiny was confused. "Why am I being called here?" She crossed her arms over the chest. "It seems to me that the Halliwells don't accept anything, either in the past or future."
"What do you mean?" Piper asked astonished but then saw her men. "Leo, Chris, you're back. When? How? Never mind." Her older son, however, orbed to his brother who caught him on time. "Good reaction, Chris."
Chris rolled his eyes. "Very funny. So what's going on here? You called the Angel. What for? I've accepted my destiny. End of story!"
"But I haven't!" Piper yelled furiously. "Please, Chris, let us help you. I lost my sister but I can't lose my son. Believe me, please."
The Angel of Destiny whistled loudly and startled with that anyone. "Okay, back to your corners, anyone. I'm glad to be here. Now let's talk!"
All looked at each other briefly but obeyed.
TBC ...
More information is slowly coming and I hope you'll like it how I play with the characters here. All what is said will then happen soon.
Next time: Second Intermezzo (lol)
Reviews are welcomed!
