A/N: And yet again you had to wait forever for an update. This is a pretty long chapter, though, so that might help make up for it :) This is the start of the end, and there are only a few chapters left, so at the very least you can take solace in the fact that there can't possibly be too many long waits to go! Hopefully, however, there won't be any more long waits. I want to try and finish the story in the next month or so. In case you've forgotten in the EONS since I last updated: this is completely AU after "Prince Charming" (although I maintain the right to take whatever elements I want from canon!) and I own no rights to Charmed.
Someone muttered something.
He bit back a groan. His head was heavy, and it felt as if his eyes were sunk into his face. As consciousness crept over him, he noticed the pain in his shoulder and in his leg, and he wondered how hurt he was. He couldn't afford to keep getting injured. What had happened?
He blinked his eyes open and saw a cavern roof. He recognised it. Well, at least he was safe, if nothing else. He was sure Arthur would be standing over him at any moment asking for details about what had happened and telling Chris to take it easy and not to move too fast. But Chris didn't have time to sit around on his ass.
He flexed his leg. It wasn't broken.
"Hey, you awake?"
Chris sat up so fast that his head spun. It was Leo. His memory rushed back to him. He was in the past. He had some how ended up in the cavern that he would later establish as the Resistance headquarters. He tried to remember what had happened. His head still pounded slightly.
"Chris," Leo said, "are you okay? We need to get to the sisters, but I thought we should talk first here. No one can find us here. This is one of a handful of spots in North America that's hidden from the view of Elders and demons alike."
Chris didn't answer. He had been taken to the trial room by the Elders and they had been interrogating him but then Leo had arrived and pulled out a smoke bomb —
"Chris," Leo said, "talk to me. Are you okay?" His face was earnest and worried. Chris clenched his fists and forced himself to his feet.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Where did you get a smoke bomb?" he asked.
"Oh — I —" Leo looked slightly abashed. He gave half a smile. ""It wasn't that hard to find. The local fireworks place had them." He paused. "Back in my earlier days as a whitelighter, before your mom was born, I . . . I didn't always do things the — the traditional way. I mean, it was the seventies, you know? But it worked thirty something years ago, so I thought . . . I mean, it worked, didn't it?" He shrugged.
"Yeah," Chris said, nodding vaguely, "I guess it did." He was still trying to process everything. he couldn't believe it was Leo of all people who had stormed into the trial room and saved him. "So, but . . . what happened? We were in the trial room, we were running to the exit, and then all of a sudden — what?"
"Gideon," Leo said, his voice taking on a darker tone. "He tried to . . . I stopped him. I grabbed you and I dragged you out and orbed you here, but you were out for hours." Chris frowned. It all sounded exactly like when Wyatt had him in the trial room and lost his temper and would have taken Chris's life along with his magic if Bianca hadn't intervened. It had been only weeks before he'd returned to the past, weeks that were then spent with Wyatt chasing them, furious that Bianca had turned and joined Chris and the Resistance.
"Chris, you can't use magic in the trial room," Leo explained. "However, the trial room largely fell out of use not only because there were fewer occasions that called for it, but because Elders who had a certain level of power and desperation could use magic if they took it from someone else. Gideon started to steal your magic, Chris, probably in an attempt to weaken you. If I hadn't stopped him, it could have killed —"
"I know how it works," Chris interrupted. "It's happened before." Leo frowned. "And it hurt worse when Wyatt did it," Chris added, just to spite Leo, who's eyes went wide at the words. It was quiet for a moment, and Chris tried to determine what his next move should be. Obviously, his plan to force the hand of whichever Elder was turned had backfired.
A shiver of guilt ran up his spine as he thought of Angela. He had no great love for Elders, that was for sure, but Angela had been one of the better ones. As far as Elders went, she was . . . she was okay. And he had probably gotten her killed. It would all make sense, really. Whoever was smart enough to take out Wyatt, probably with the idea that he was doing good by eliminating a witch who would later decimate Elders and take over the fucking world, was also smart enough to know when he was being smoked out.
And he had somehow turned the tables on Angela and on Chris, too.
"Chris," Leo said. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I . . . I tried to stop them. Gideon came to me and told me they were planning on talking to you because of what Angela had told them, but I — I — he wouldn't listen to me. I did the only thing I could think of. But I promise we're going to get this all worked out, okay?"
Chris looked over at him. A part of him was still in shock over what had happened. Everything was spinning out of control, and here was Leo, telling Chris it would all be okay. It was like some wacky dream.
It's a fucking joke, Chris thought suddenly. The last time he had felt truly grounded, had felt as if everything would be okay because he wasn't alone and he had someone looking out for him despite all odds, well, he had been a teenager, and the person looking out for him had been Wyatt. And Wyatt definitely hadn't kept his promises to Chris.
"And if they vote you off the island for this?" Chris spat. "How will you serve the greater good?"
"To serve the greater good," Leo replied, "you have to be selfless." He paused. "You have to be willing to sacrifice everything — your friends and your interests and your — your family and your life and . . . I'm starting to think that's not a sacrifice I can make." He stared at Chris, as if imploring him to understand. "I guess I'm not selfless, not anymore, not since the day I fell in love with a charge."
No. Leo couldn't be serious. Did he honestly think he could leave behind the Elders? They were his life, no matter how much he liked to whine that it wasn't his choice, it was his destiny. "So how long will this kick last?" Chris asked. "I mean, if I remember the logic right, aren't you helping your family by helping the greater good?"
Leo sighed again. He looked slightly annoyed. Chris was somehow gratified by that. "Right now, I don't care so much about the logic. I can't be an Elder right now, not when I need to help you and Wyatt. I don't know what's going to happen when all of this is over, but I'm through letting my family suffer."
He said it so firmly that Chris almost believed him.
"So," Leo said, clearing his throat. "We need a plan, right?"
"Right," Chris said. "Obviously, it's an Elder who goes after Wyatt. And he knows that I know, and he's trying to get rid of me." Leo nodded. But he looked slightly hesitant, and a chord of anger tightened suddenly inside of Chris. "Don't try and deny that it's an Elder," he said. "This proves it."
"This proves that the Elders have been led astray," Leo began slowly.
"Oh, come on!" Chris exclaimed. "That lasted, what — five seconds? For five seconds you were loyal to your family over a bunch of bathrobe wearing know-it-alls!"
"Not wanting to believe that protectors of all that is good in the world have turned evil does not mean I am not loyal to my family, Chris," Leo said, his eyes flashing. "I know you want to paint all Elders as evil, and I realise that it's my fault, but they're not all evil. And you don't want them to be."
Chris tried to bite back his frustration. He certainly wasn't about to admit that he knew Leo was right. "Look, do you or do you not think that an Elder has turned?"
"I think . . . I think this certainly seems like it." He sighed heavily. Did he think they could save Wyatt by heaving sighs every other minute?
"Yes, it definitely seems like it," Chris spat. He had a feeling the whole world would be better off if someone banged Leo's head against a wall a few times.
"Chris, you have to understand that it — it's not easy to accept that someone I trust isn't who I think he or she is. These people are another kind of family to me, and many of them guided me when I was a whitelighter and supported me when I wanted to marry Piper and welcomed me openly when I became an Elder and . . . it's not easy, thinking that someone you love has betrayed you. So could you cut me some slack?"
Chris swallowed thickly. "I know," he murmured. "I know it's not easy."
Leo met his gaze, and Chris saw the understanding dawn in him. But he didn't want to talk about Wyatt with Leo. He never had and he never would. Leo might have saved his ass in the trial room, but it was too little, too late, and he had more important things to focus on.
"Can you just — just give me a little credit?" Leo asked, a kind of plea to his voice. "I'm trying. Isn't that worth something?" Chris stared at him. His mind flashed over all the moments Leo had said that he was trying, that he was trying to be a father and he was trying to do what was best for his family and for Chris and he was trying, and wasn't that enough?
"Something," Chris repeated slowly. "Isn't it worth something? Okay. Sure. I'll give you something." He nodded. "I've never liked you. It's not a secret."
"Chris —"
"And you know why I've never liked you? It's because you've never liked me. There it is, Dad. There's your something."
"That's not true," Leo said. "You're my son. I love you. There is nothing that could ever change that." Chris laughed, and he felt as if he were facing off with Wyatt and everything out of the other man's mouth was just so fucking wrong.
But at least Wyatt wasn't a liar or a fool.
"Valoc," Chris said. Leo frowned, but Chris didn't give him a chance to say anything. "He had legions of demons under him, hundreds of the worst sort of the underworld, and he was slaughtering innocents in a play to take over the underworld. Nobody could stop him. Your new charge — Sarah, her name was Sarah. Valoc killed her sister, and she was hysterical. She went after him. She got into all sorts of trouble. But you helped her. You guided her, and she — she actually defeated Valoc. It was a feat not matched by anyone but the Charmed Ones."
He paused. He didn't remember any of this, of course. But he had been told the story a thousand times. "They wanted to make you an Elder," he went on. "You had a gift, and it was your path, they said. You had a wife and two sons, but you could still be a part of their life, and this was your destiny." He hated destiny. "But you didn't become an Elder. They changed their minds. Of course, they changed their minds again a year later and made you an Elder, but do you know why they retracted their first offer?"
"Chris —"
"Do you have any idea? After you had basically saved the world, what could you possibly do that would make them re-eveualte?" He paused. "They gave you a choice, actually. They said you had to show you could play by the rules. But you failed their little test. Do you know why?"
Leo shook his head.
Chris smiled, aware that it was nothing close to an actual smile. "Because I was sick. I had a mass in my abdomen. Cancer." Leo's expression slackened in surprise. "And you healed me. Piper made you. But it wasn't a magical ailment, was it?" He let the words sink in. "I mean, that's gotta suck for you, right? You planned Wyatt. You wanted Wyatt. You tried and tried for Wyatt. But then I came along, a complete mess up, and I'm not even three when I start screwing with your life."
"Chris," Leo murmured, stepping towards him.
"Hey," Chris said, shrugging his shoulders and wishing he hadn't even started talking. "I don't blame you. I would hate me, too, if I were you." He glared at this man, his father, and he wished Leo wasn't trying to be something he wasn't. He might have saved Chris from the trial room, he might have defied his beloved Elders and broken the rules and helped Chris, but a leopard doesn't change its spots.
Wyatt was a bastard, but at least he didn't try to pretend otherwise.
"I'm sorry," Leo said softly.
Chris scoffed. "For what?"
"For all the ways I've let you down," he replied.
Chris hated the word sorry. But what was the point of this conversation? They were wasting time. "We have to find out which Elder has turned," he said. Leo looked away. "We find it out, we prove it, and Wyatt is saved, and the Elders forgive you, and I can go back to the future."
Leo nodded, a kind of resolve on face. "Right." He rolled his shoulders, as if in some sort of preperation. "Where do we start?"
"Back at the beginning," Chris said. He didn't really have a choice. They weren't going to circle it any longer; they weren't going to play games or work with tid-bits and little hints and clues. "It's time we pay Salome another visit."
When Chris orbed into the room, Phoebe was lighting a few scented candles in hopes that the lavender scent would help her relax. She was so startled she nearly lit her hand on fire. "Chris! You scared —"
"Where's Paige?" he demanded.
She frowned, her eyes bouncing over his torn, singed shirt and slightly bruised arm. "She's downstairs," Phoebe began. "But what happened?"
Chris orbed away. The sound of voices carried from downstairs. Worry growing in her, she blew out the one candle she had managed to light and started towards the stairs. Chris orbed suddenly in front of her, a hand on Paige's arm. "Dude, slow down," said Paige. "Why are the Elders after us?"
He didn't answer. "We have to move fast," Chris told her. "Let's go." He reached for Phoebe.
"Go where?" she asked.
His hand gripped her shoulder painfully tight, and the familiar sensation of orbing overcame her. When she was on solid ground again, Chris released her immediately. She was in some sort of underground cavern. That did not bode well. "Okay, you need to give us the 411, like, now," Paige said.
There was another orb, and a moment later Piper and Leo appeared in the room. Piper looked over at Phoebe and their mutual confusion was clear. "Where are we?" Phoebe asked, not sure whether to address Leo or Chris. Since when did the two of them work together?
"We're somewhere safe," Chris said.
"What's going on?" Piper asked. "What's happened?"
"Whoever turns Wyatt," Chris went on, "is an Elder."
"No way," said Paige, shaking her head. Piper only stared. Phoebe looked at Leo. She had known Chris suspected this, but did Leo, too? As little affection as she had for Elders, Phoebe had to admit that she had trouble imagining them as evil.
"It makes sense, really," Leo said calmly. "They can't see into the future, but often they have other ways of knowing what is to come. One of them must have discovered what Wyatt would become and is now attempting to prevent it by killing him."
"But I thought this was about someone turning Wyatt evil?" Paige asked.
"The crime reporter," Piper murmured, looking at Phoebe.
She nodded. "Remember how I talked to him at the paper?" she asked Paige. "And he told me about the serial killer who was abused by his kidnapper as a kid?"
"Okay," Paige said slowly, "let me get this straight. An Elder, in an attempt to save the world from the evil Wyatt will become, is trying to kill him, and it's going to backfire and he's going to abuse Wyatt long enough for it to turn him evil. Is that right?"
"Looks like it," Leo said softly. Chris said nothing, but his mouth was a thin, drawn line, and the tension was rolling off him in waves.
"But what are we doing down here?" Paige asked. "Chris said we had to come here because the Elders wouldn't be able to find us, but why are the Elders trying to find us? I mean, it's just one, right? Do you know who it is?"
"We don't know who it is," said Chris sharply. "That's the problem. I was trying to flush him out, but it didn't work. Whoever it is managed to turn all the Elders against me, and they would have recycled me if Leo hadn't stopped them."
"So you guys are . . . on the run now?" Paige asked. "Like fugitives?" She grinned. Chris did not look nearly as amused.
"Something like that," Leo replied.
"And what's the plan?" asked Piper.
"We talk to Salome," said Chris. "We finally get the truth out of her — the whole truth. If we know which Elder it is, then we can find proof and we can protect Wyatt, and then it'll all finally be over." It was silent for a moment, as if the words were washing over them.
"But will she know?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, I thought she wasn't able to see the exact future because it was too complicated?"
"She knows," Chris said grimly. "Maybe she couldn't see it at first, but now that it's about to happen — now that it could happen at any moment — she can see it. That's how her powers work. The sooner the event, the more clearly she can see it. A little while ago she finally saw that it was an Elder, and there's a good chance that she's now seen which Elder it is."
"Can we make her talk?" Piper asked.
"Yes," Chris replied. His tone left no room for argument.
"But we're going to find her," Leo added. "Together. We're all in this together, and we're finishing it together." His gaze was on Chris, but the surly boy said nothing. Phoebe was a little curious how Leo had stopped him from running off on his own, but she was grateful he had. For whatever reason, Chris finally seemed ready to let Leo help, and now they were all about to help.
"Now?" Phoebe said.
"No," Chris said. "I was thinking next Wednesday. Would that work for you? Maybe at two in the afternoon? Or would some other time be better?"
"Okay, then," Paige said, "now it is."
Piper stepped a few feet forward and placed a hand on Chris. His posture remained stiff. "I'm guessing you know where to find her?"
Chris nodded.
"You go first," Leo said. "Take Piper. I'll sense you and follow after with Phoebe and Paige."
Chris didn't respond. He only orbed away. Phoebe felt the usual rush of oncoming battle swim through her veins, but it was nothing new. They could do this. Leo placed a hand on her shoulder and she was swallowed by orbs for the second time that day.
Leo brought them to the same dilapidated apartment they had first met Salome in. Salome sat calmly on the one piece of furniture, the worse for wear couch, and she looked a little smug as her eyes darted from Chris and Piper to Phoebe, Paige, and Leo. "Well," she said, "you really all came. I hardly believed it when I foresaw it. After all, I thought you were a lone wolf." She looked at Chris.
"If you saw us coming, then you saw why," Chris replied, his voice clipped. "Give us the name."
"That's now how it works, darling," Salome rasped, and Phoebe kind of wanted to kick box that self-satisfied smirk off the demonic witch's face. Okay, not kind of — she really, really wanted to. "You have to give me something, too."
"What do you want?" Chris asked.
Salome tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I want to see your future," she said. "Uninterrupted, all access . . . and in exchange, I'll give you a name. Everybody wins."
"Why do you care about his future?" Leo asked.
"Because, Daddy, it touches with mine, and there are a few . . . questions I'd like the answers to. So, Christopher, what do you say? Let me look into your head for a few minutes, and I'll give you the ticket to saving Big Brother."
"No," Chris said.
"No?" Salome repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What are you going to do? Threaten to kill me?" Her eyes flashed. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm afraid you don't stand a chance with tricking me a second time, which means you'll never get close enough to kill me, and you know it." She raised her chin, as if daring him to argue. "The only way you're getting what you want out of me is if you give me what I want. So . . . perhaps you need a moment to think on it?"
"Chris," Leo began, "maybe it wouldn't be so bad—"
"The last time you saw me working with Salome, you orbed me to the underworld and tried to beat the shit out of me," Chris snapped. "Why the sudden change?" He was glaring daggers, but it was at Salome rather than Leo, and Phoebe was pretty sure it was a toss up who Chris hated more.
"Just a few minutes," Salome said. "How bad can it possibly be?" She tilted her head at him, and Phoebe though the witch was somehow even more repulsive.
"I have another idea," Paige suggested brightly. "How about you tell us who's after Wyatt and in exchange I'll buy you some shampoo? Maybe something fruity? You seem like a fruity person." Phoebe bit back a snort, and even Chris grinned a little.
"I hope the mental institution doesn't drain you of your humour, Paige," Salome spat.
"Don't sweat it," Paige replied sweetly.
"If I let you into my head," Chris began slowly.
"Chris," Piper immediately said, looking alarmed.
He ignored her. "If I let you into my head, then it's only fair you let me into yours." When Salome said nothing, Chris went on. "You see what you want from me, no exceptions, no secrets, no half truths. And then I see what I want from you, and it'll be the whole truth and only the truth. You know what that would mean?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Everybody wins."
Phoebe had to admit: Chris was good. But to let Salome into his head?
"Why?" she asked him. "Why can't I simply tell you what I know? Don't you trust me?" She gave a menacing grin.
"No," Chris said, "I don't. I know how you like to play games. So if you want to look into my head, then I'll look into yours." His face was set in stone.
"And how is it you plan on entering my mind?" Salome asked.
"A spell," he answered.
"Wait — the To Heal a Heart spell?" Phoebe asked.
Chris nodded.
"But —" Phoebe glanced at Piper and saw her sister looked equally concerned, but neither Paige nor Leo showed any doubt. Seriously? This was the plan?
Salome stared at Chris. There seemed to be a silent battle of wills between them. "Fine," Salome finally said. "Fine. But I go first."
"Okay," agreed Chris. Salome stood.
"Chris," Piper said, stepping towards him. "Let's slow down for a minute."
"I know what I'm doing," Chris said. "I promise." He glanced at her, and Phoebe couldn't see what passed between them, but Piper nodded slowly. Chris turned back to Salome.
"If you try to back out of your half of the deal," Leo started. "We'll —"
"Hush, Elder," Salome interrupted. "I might not be a good witch, but I'm don't back out on my word. Isn't that right, Chris?"
Chris said nothing and Salome smiled, her scarred face growing momentarily more disfigured with the movement. Salome stepped towards Chris and curled her long fingers around his shoulders. Her nails were long and painted a deep red. They pressed into Chris's t-shirt as her gaze locked into his, her face only a few inches from his.
Phoebe still wasn't sure about this. Before she could say anything, however, Salome's eyes began glowing a brilliant green.
"Holy shit," Paige muttered.
"Don't worry," Piper said softly. "It's how her magic works." But despite her assurances, Piper didn't look any less worried than Paige. And Phoebe could feel the worry emanating from Leo. It tripled when Chris's eyes began glowing green, too. Salome's scarred hands tightened on Chris's shoulders, but as silent magic connected the two, no other movement was made.
Phoebe wasn't sure how much time passed, but her eyes never left Chris and Salome. It could have been seconds, minutes, maybe even half an hour before suddenly the green was gone, Salome was stepping back, and Chris was blinking as if to clear away sleepiness.
Salome's lips were pursued. "Did you get what you want?" Chris asked. He didn't look much as if he cared.
"Why?" Salome asked. "I don't understand why." Phoebe could see the intertwining confusion and distress on her face. If she weren't Satanic, Phoebe might feel bad for her.
Chris shrugged. "That's not my problem. You should sit down. The spell will knock you out."
"No, you'll answer me why first," Salome said. "Why?"
"That wasn't part of the deal."
"I'm amending the deal," she said. They glared at one another.
"Ah, you can't do that," Paige said. "That's not how it works. Just 'cause you didn't find what you wanted in Chris's head, doesn't mean you can demand more."
Salome acted as if she hadn't heard. "I'll let you into my head," Salome hissed at Chris, "I'll let you all in. You can spend hours in there for all I fucking care. Just tell me why!"
Chris let out a dry, humourless laugh, glancing off for a moment before returning his solid gaze to her. "I can't tell you," he said. "Because I don't know. But if I had to guess? It's impossible not to. He's addictive. He's persuasive. He can make himself into your best friend, your closest advocate, your world. And for whatever reason, he reeled you in. You, Salome Wentworth, fell in love with a witch." He spoke with a kind of sick relish.
Salome's lip curled, and she looked almost feral. "And even when he kills my father —"
"Even," Chris said. "You had passed the point of no return by then, anyway."
"And the child? Why did he want me to kill it?"
"Because when he wants to have a kid, he'll do it on his own terms. It's always on his terms. If it's not, he makes it. He'll stop or punish or torture or kill anyone in order to." Chris spoke clinically, as if explaining some sort of magical technicality to Salome, but Phoebe could barely breathe.
This witch with demon blood, this awful creature that had killed her own sisters, would fall in love with Wyatt and when he got her pregnant, he would have her kill the child. And she would . . . because she loved him, even after he killed her father. Phoebe could hardly process it. It was all so . . . wrong.
"Anything else?" Chris said.
"No." It was quiet. "I suppose this is to my advantage," she finally went on, sitting down on the couch with some measure of grace. "If you manage to save your precious brother, then I won't ever have anything to do with him." Her eye glinted in a dangerous way.
"Let's hope so," Piper interjected. Salome sent her a withering glare.
"Do you know the spell?" Chris asked Piper.
"I'm pretty sure we've all get it memorised now," Phoebe said, even as Piper nodded.
"Do we get to come?" asked Paige.
"We're coming," said Phoebe.
"We have to," said Leo.
Chris looked annoyed. "Whatever. Come. I don't care. How do we do it?"
Paige linked her arms through Leo and Phoebe, and Phoebe reached forward and took Piper's hand, as her sister placed an arm around Chris. "Here our words, here our plea," Phoebe and Paige began, and Piper joined in after a moment, though her eyes did not leave Chris. He stood silently, holding Salome's hard gaze. "Across the sky, across the sea."
"Have fun," Salome said, curling back her lips to show her pointed, yellow teeth.
"Reveal to us what must be known, To understand thoughts all her own!"
A precarious moment of complete still and silence reigned, and then a sudden storm of wind deafened them, and dotted colours were blurring together and smearing their vision, and Phoebe's stomach was left behind as they were propelled into a black oblivion.
When it all stopped, Phoebe found she had been knocked off her feet, as per usual. They all had been, and they were in the familiar darkness of a quiet mind. But she somehow felt on edge, as if Salome's mind would try to play a trick on them. Leo helped her to her feet.
"Does my head look like this?' Chris asked, glancing around the unending darkness that surrounded them.
"Black, black, and black, with a little black to the left and all blackness above and below and, oh yes, a touch of black over there?" Paige asked, tilting her head at him. "Yes, this is about the same as the inside of your skull." Paige smiled, but Phoebe could see the tension behind her bright eyes.
"So how do we . . . find something out?" Chris asked.
"This spell is meant to allow someone to see another's memories," Leo explained. "It clears the person's mind completely by putting them into a dreamless sleep and then the spell caster can call up whatever memories he or she wishes. I'm assuming that you want to look at the future moments Salome has seen, which to her would be categorised as memories?"
Chris nodded curtly. "And how do we do that?" he asked, his teeth gritted.
"It isn't difficult," Phoebe said. It was not a good time for Leo and Chris to start fighting. "All we do is think and shout exactly what we want to see. So — think about Wyatt being turned and shout his name, and hopefully it'll come up right away." No one said anything. "Okay, um, Wyatt! WYATT!"
She thought about the little precious baby she knew and loved, and she thought about the terrifying man he would become, the one who tortured her niece and would kill her children, and she shouted again, "WYATT!" She thought about how he became the way he did and who did it to him.
"WYATT!" Paige and Piper shouted. Leo joined in. Chris didn't, not before there was music playing, a slow, soul wrenching version of Amazing Grace.
"What's that?" Chris asked sharply.
"It's starting," Leo murmured.
The blackness above them gave way to a gray sky, and suddenly, like someone had switched a flip, they were standing in a graveyard, and Phoebe was staring straight at her future self, dressed in black, her eyes bloodshot. They were at a funeral.
Her eyes ran over everything — older Phoebe stood beside a tall man she didn't recognise, and her chest caught a little at what it could mean. Paige was there, too, and Phoebe thought she saw who must be Penny, but the girl looked as if she herself were dead. Piper wasn't there. Leo wasn't there. And then Phoebe saw Chris . . . and Wyatt.
"He's not a baby," Piper breathed. "This isn't what we want. Why do we never get to see what we want on the first try?" Her eyes were trained on her sons.
"What is this?" Paige asked Chris.
"This is . . . this is Patty's funeral."
Phoebe looked at Penny. Patty was her little sister, right? Which meant that this was only days before she would die. And even as Phoebe thought it, Penny looked at Wyatt. Her deadened eyes bored into him. He glanced away from the grave and the small man beside it who had begun to speak, and met Penny's gaze.
And he smiled.
Phoebe looked at her future self, at future Paige, and was shocked to see that neither noticed. No one was paying attention. And, his eyes trained on Penny, Wyatt reached forward and wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulders.
The graveyard tinted green suddenly and smeared away, and suddenly Wyatt was throwing fireballs, his eyes blazing, and he was perhaps a year or two younger. Demons were exploding left and right. "What's going?" Chris demanded.
"I don't know," Paige said.
"This isn't normal — this has never happened," Piper said.
Suddenly Wyatt stopped, and he stood breathing heavily, the underworld a backdrop behind him, and his eyes trained on the one remaining demon, who lay panting on his hands and knees. He glanced up. It was Amaymon, the demon who would kill Piper. Wyatt raised his hands.
Green tinted the scene. It smeared. Future Piper was taking inventory in P3. It was a quiet, mundane moment. Then a demon shimmered into the room. It was Amaymon. His eyes were trained on Piper. It all happened so quickly Phoebe could barely utter a gasp of surpise. The next thing she knew, Piper was gasping, clutching her bleeding stomach.
The door to the club opened, and a young Chris stepped forward. "Hey Mom," he called. He started down the stairs only to freeze. "MOM!" His eyes flew to Amaymon.
"Sorry, kid," the demon breathed, giving a petrifying smile and shimmering away.
Chris raced down the stairs. "Mom, oh, God, Mom," he said, falling down beside her.
"Hey, baby," future Piper said. "Hey, it's okay. I —" She couldn't finish.
Chris had started crying. "It's gonna be okay, Mom, I promise. Leo! LEO! DAD!"
The picture went green and seemed to start over. Piper stood taking inventory in a quiet, empty P3. The door to the club opened. Chris called out, "Hey Mom." Piper glanced up and smiled at him. He headed down the stairs towards her.
"It worked," Chris breathed.
Phoebe glanced away from the scene to look at Chris. "What worked?" asked Leo.
Staring at his future self, Chris said, "Don't you get it? Salome's seen two futures — she's seen the future I know, when my mom dies, and she's seen this new future. . . ." His voice trailed off. Future Piper was handing her son a can of Pepsi.
"You changed the future," Piper whispered. "You saved my life. And Salome saw that."
The words had barely left her mind when the green tint came yet again, and the scene smeared, and suddenly the memories came flying, one after another. They were random moments, and they would last only a few seconds before they would glow green and transform into something else. Phoebe caught glimpses of herself, she caught glimpses of a young Wyatt talking with demons, and she saw Paige shouting and then Piper clutching Wyatt and Chris to her, both still toddlers.
"These aren't normal memories," Leo said slowly, "so the spell doesn't work the same. These are scenes Salome has seen. There are different versions and . . . it's different."
"But eventually it'll show us the scene we want, right?" Piper asked.
"It better," Chris murmured, staring at Penny dancing across the kitchen of the Manor with a wooden spoon held to her lips like a microphone as she crooned, grinning like an idiot, like a perfectly happy thirteen-year-old girl. The kitchen turned green.
A little boy was running through the woods, his brown hair falling into his face, his eyes terrorised. He was wearing muddy jeans and a backpack, and he couldn't be more than ten or eleven. He kept on glancing over his shoulder, and he started to cry when he tripped. Chris was staring at him with clenched fists.
"You know who that is, don't you?" Phoebe asked him.
He didn't take his eyes off the boy. "That's your son," he said. "Cooper. And he's about to die."
Phoebe's breath caught in her chest. She looked at the boy, at Cooper, and she didn't know what to say or do or think but — but it wasn't as if it would make a difference. She was going to watch her future son die. But then the scene went green. It ended, and Phoebe felt Paige's comforting hand on her shoulder.
The next scene to appear was Chris, maybe fifteen, sitting on a bench. He was across from Phoebe's old elementary school. He looked bored. He glanced at his watch. He pulled out his cell phone. He pressed a number on speed dial. "Hey Pen, it's me," he said. He stood. "I'm gonna be late. I told Aunt Phoebe I'd pick Coop up from school 'cause she couldn't come on time, but I'm beginning to think she must have just picked him up early." He paused, and Penny must have been speaking. "Yeah, right, the day she trusts her kids with anyone other than herself will be the day green grass grows in hell. I know, you've said it before." He rolled his eyes. "I'll be there soon."
He flipped the phone shut. He turned green.
And little Cooper was running through the woods again.
It was all happening so fast; it had barely been a minute since her son first appeared, but Phoebe felt as if she were watching a lifetime pass. Cooper tripped again. He scrambled to his feet and froze. Wyatt stood calmly in front of him, dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt with some team logo on it. Cooper gasped a sigh of relief.
"Wyatt," he said, "somebody's trying to kill me! This lady picked me up from school early even though Mom said Chris was gonna pick me up and —"
"Shh," Wyatt interrupted, holding his finger to his mouth.
Phoebe felt as if she were watching it in slow motion. A demon shimmered behind Cooper. Three more followed. Cooper spun around, almost tripping again, and it was just in time for four fireballs to hit him. He flew backwards, and Wyatt stepped calmly out of the way.
Phoebe clutched her hand to her mouth, her tears spilling over her fingers. Paige was holding her tightly now, as if to keep her standing up right.
The scene turned green. Future Phoebe was sobbing. A man, his own eyes glassy with tears, was trying to soothe Phoebe, but it wasn't working. Paige was pacing the room, wringing her hands, and Chris and Wyatt stood silently against the far wall.
The center of the scene was the bloody, broken, burnt boy who lay on the couch with a golden robed, grey haired Leo sitting beside him, his hands glowing. He stopped. Cooper lay motionless, his childish face clearly pale with death. "I'm sorry," Leo murmured. "There's nothing I can do."
"No," Phoebe said, "No! You fix him! You heal him! Heal him now, Leo, now!"
Leo shook his head, glancing at Paige as if for help. "Honey," future Paige said gently, "he was already dead when we found him. There was never anything Leo could do for him."
"No," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "No! Heal him! I know you can. HEAL HIM!" She was sobbing and shaking as Leo reached a hand forward and closed Cooper's glassy eyes. Phoebe sunk down to the ground hysterically.
"We'll find out who did it," Paige said. "We'll find out which demon did this, and we'll make him pay, Phoebe, I swear."
Future Phoebe quieted slightly. She looked up, and her eyes darted to Chris. She stared at him for a moment. "This is your fault," she breathed.
"Phoebe," Leo said.
"No! This is your fault! I didn't even think to look for my son until seven because he was supposed be with you! How could you let this happen?" She struggled to her feet, and she shoved her husband away — it must be my husband, Phoebe thought as she watched in growing horror — and screamed at Chris, who was pale, his eyes wide. He was nothing more than a child himself.
Wyatt stepped in front of Chris. "He didn't do anything. It's not his fault. It's not any of our faults. It's a demon. Was it your fault Aunt Prue died?"
"Wyatt," future Paige murmured, frowning and shaking her head.
But Wyatt didn't heed her. "If Dad hadn't been in the underworld trying to save you from your demonic boyfriend, then he would have been in time to save her. Does that mean that it's your fault?"
Phoebe had stopped speaking, and she had nearly collapsed on her son, still crying. "Don't listen to her, little brother," Wyatt said. "It's not your fault."
The scene tinted green.
Phoebe couldn't stop crying, not even when her dead son and future self had disappeared from view. She looked over at Chris, but he was staring unseeingly at the next scene that was appearing, and he seemed as unaware of Piper's arm around him as Phoebe was of Paige's arm around her.
More scenes flashed by. There were quick, random moments that showed an evil Wyatt and the Halliwell family. There were strange scenes featuring people Phoebe didn't recognise. Sometimes the same scene would play over three or four times with a different ending. Sometimes Piper would be in the scenes and Chris would choke on his breath a little, and Phoebe knew that in his world, Piper had been dead by then.
Phoebe saw Bianca. She saw her future son before he died. She saw Chris holding a dying Penny. She saw a little girl reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before suddenly being flung across the kitchen like a rag doll. Her book lay abandoned, and the little girl stared into nothing, dead. She saw a graveyard. She saw a funeral. She saw another funeral.
She saw Wyatt torturing Chris. She saw the two brothers, grown, fighting. "You killed her! You killed Penny!" She saw Salome kissing Wyatt. She saw buildings on fire. She saw little Wyatt sitting and laughing on Leo's shoulders. She saw little Chris watching Bambi from Piper's lap. She saw Paige in the mental institution. She saw Chris skateboarding. She saw Wyatt killing off Elders like bugs under his foot.
She saw Wyatt choking Chris. "Don't make me kill you, little brother." She saw Chris slipping on sunglasses and jumping into a portal to travel to the past. She saw a blurred, unpredictable, terrifying future, and it all glinted green. Some moments were a handful of seconds, some were five or ten minutes.
And then the attic of the Manor appeared, and Chris stood flipping through the Book with magic. He looked much the same as he did in the present. He glanced across the attic to where baby Wyatt sat in a playpen.
"Oh, God," Piper whispered.
Phoebe felt an understanding brimming over the edge of her mind, but she wasn't sure. . . . .
"This is it," Leo said. "This is —
Shining purple orbs appeared and before they were even fully materialised into a person, Chris was falling to the ground, curling around the knife that had been thrown into his stomach. Wyatt started wailing. The orbs solidified and there was an Elder stalking towards Wyatt with a grim face.
"No," Leo breathed.
It was Gideon.
To Be Continued . . .
A/N: And they finally know! Yay! I know I said there would be another walk down memory lane . . . I just never said in whose head it would be! The next chapter will see the repair of another relationship, but that's all I'm saying! On a different note -- I was thinking of writing a one or two shot that shows Chris's life in the dark!future . . . would you all be interested? I mapped it all out for this story (I have a timeline oriented around Chris's age) so it might be fun to put it to good use.
Okay, here's me complaining a little. I've had a few reviews that are upset about typos. This story is unbeta'd -- it's going to have typos. I try my hardest to find them, but I don't always, and when I notice them later, it's VERY hard to fix them. Why, you ask? Well, those of you who write your own stories know that this site has a complicated way of posting stories. For those who don't, let me clarify. Instead of simply, you know, posting the story, you have to upload a document and then attach it to a story. This means that to edit a chapter, I need to edit the document and then "replace" the chapter with the edited version. It becomes even more difficult when the document "expires" on ffnet, so I have to reload the whole document and then reattach it to the story. It takes a long time . . . and I would rather spend what time I have that isn't consumed by RL writing the next chapter rather than fixing a typo in chapter seven that apparently made it INSANELY hard for someone to read. I'm sorry. If I've written something that really makes no sense, then yes, I'll try and find the time to go back and fix it, but otherwise . . . um, just suck it up, pretty please?
Rant over. After that fabulousness . . . Please review?