Disclaimer:

Chris: Tishoooooooooooo!

Bless you!

Chris: Well thanks but that's NOT what I need right now. Wyyyyyyyyyyyyyatt come on, just a little healing over here. I planned to die heroic with…let's say…98 or something around that age. Come on bro…tishooooooooooooooooooooo!

Bless you!!

Chris: Wyyyyyyy!

Wyatt: You know I can't heal anymore…

Chris: …but a little magic…

Wyatt: …would be against all your little personal gain- rules!

Chris: Muuuaaaaaaaaah!

Wyatt: Don't wail, just simply join me…no rules on my side, you know.

Don't tempt him Wyatt! He's suffering enough from the flu without your help.

Chris: Suffering from flu and being evil that would be too much, even for a whitelighter. But just tell me the flu itself is evil isn't it?

Wyatt: Dream on brother! I've got better plans then making the whole world sneeze and cough.

Enough bantering for now +puts a thermometer in Chris mouth+ You, Wyatt – go into the kitchen and make some tea…

Chris: Mo Mamomil-ea!

Wyatt: Pardon?

Go to bed Chris! You're out of the game for at least a weak!

Chris: +spits out the thermometer+ No way I've got to…

No discussion

I know I don't own you

But you're running a high fever and if you are not under that blanket in five, I'll send your brother over to sing you a lullaby!

Chris: NOOOOOOOO! Everything but not that+jumps into bed+

Wyatt: +calls out of the kitchen+ But I have a wonderful singing voice…

…Hush little Chrissie don't say a word

or the source gona kill you, you stupid nerd

and when you don't get better very fast

Good ol´ Wy´s gona kick you out of bed with a power-blast…

All: WYATT!

Wyatt: OK, OK here's the camomile-tea!

Chris: Urrrrrrrrrgh!

(A/N: Guess who's having the flu right now!!! Ohhhhhhhh yes, it's ME!)

Chapter twelve/ part five:

...Chris appeared at the hilltop only seconds later.

So this was it – Phoebe knew everything! And if she did…you can imagine the rest!

Chris was at the end of all his plans.

How could he go on like before – now!

The avalanche had been started and it was rolling downwards taking all his carefully build up precautions with it.

It was only a matter of time till everyone knew who he was…

…Paige and Phoebe would become "aunt P" and "aunty Phoebs" and Piper – yes Piper would transform almost unnoticeably into "mom".

Then there was also Leo to aggravate the matters.

Well, he would stay… Leo as he ever was and most probably ever would be.

Chris was convinced that the moment his genitor knew of his as well as baby Chris´ existence, everything would go from bad to worse.

The circle of denial, neglect and at long last total disown would start anew. Something he leastwise would like to have spared yet unborn innocent baby-Chris.

He thought it would be better for him to have no father at all, then having the sorry excuse of a father, Leo portrayed most of his childhood.

Chris wanted to scream of the hilltop, so that his voice would resound through the woods. NO! Was all he had in his foggy mind No, no, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

But he was tired, so so tired!

Tired of being the devoted, the sacrificing one, the one who always seemed to get the short end of the stick.

Simply tired.

All Chris managed to get out was a low breathed out "why?" as he watched the sunrise slowly tinge the hills in the distance bright orange.

The beginning of a new day, and Christopher Halliwell didn't know what to do…

There was too much of everything.

Too much pain.

Too much compassion.

And even too much love now.

Feelings were such uncertain things.

Being neglected and ignored was something you could build upon.

If you were ignored wherever you turned up in the picture, there was nothing you could loose.

Chris shuddered inwardly…hadn't it been him who almost never appeared on any family photo, they made every year with Leo as an, in his eyes mendacious proof of their domestic happiness. As a boy he had really made a sport out of it to not or at least only partly be seen on any photo.

Nowadays a photo of his mom, Wyatt and himself was his most precious treasure.

…But now he wasn't the nobody anymore that everyone could ignore and would be forgotten the very moment he left the room…if not before that he had to ad out of bitter experience…

Now he was a nephew and worse – a son!

Someone whose status screamed attention, and at the moment he hated this with every fibre of his heart.

…

"Got him" Leo opened his eyes.

"Where is he? He's gone way to long now…come on don't let me worm everything out of you, Leo!" To denote Piper as "impatient" was an understatement.

"So first you told me to leave him the hell alone and now you call me, expecting to do some "beauty-corrections" for your unnerving, unerringly little whitelighter?

And what's that with the big-affection-we-suddenly-love-the-whitelighter-thing????

Is there something I should know?"

Leo lifted his eyebrows looking expectantly at Phoebe, the specialist for hitting on the strangest men.

"What…no! Not what YOU think, Leo! Come on, he's almost a baby!"

"He's nineteen – old enough in most states"

The argument started to heat-up till Piper stopped the two spitfires.

"Leo! Stop that crap! Both of you! We have no time for that!

Go find him,

Bring him back

And heal him, Leo!

THEN well have time to explain everything, promised!"

"I'll be blowed, if I do that!"

"Oh Leo don't chance your luck! This is PIPER you are talking to!" Paige simply couldn't refrain from that comment and earned an icy glare from both Piper AND Leo, while Phoebe had to fight the urge to giggle.

"You said yourself that he isn't seriously injured. I would never deny ANYONE injured my help.

But this is just a favour. If he wants something, he should come and beg for it!" Now Leo had definitively spoiled his chances.

"LEO! FOR THE LAST TIME: GO AND BRING OUR SON BACK HOME…!!!"

"What has Wyatt got to do…? No…! He didn't make you believe this now? You're kidding, right…! Tell me you don't really believe this.

He's lying whenever he opens his mouth – manipulating the whole family from day one! And now…"

"I don't give a damn what you think Leo! He IS our son. Point!

And right now you're proving where our youngest son got his neurotic-paranoid-unnerving attitude from…!"

"…and the eyes!" added Paige.

"…especially the eyes!" Phoebe affirmed her sister.

"That's enough! I'm going back upthere and check with the elders what spell it was he's put you under."

"Le…!" Piper began but at that time he had already started to dissolve into blue-white orbs.

Piper started to hate this ability with all her might.

It seemed that literally all Halliwell men used it to dodge direct confrontation with their problems.

It was for sure only a matter of time till Wyatt would start to do so. Of that she was certain- had even witnessed the first indications of it already.

And her youngest – Oh yeah, she had to get used to that thought- seemed to be no exception.

No, he had obviously learned from the best.

Now he was sitting somewhere unknown, brooding over his problems all alone.

"Paige, I think this is your job now. Bring him back home, please! He walked around with this scars and this horribly wound for over a year.

I think it's definitely time that family takes care of this boy now!"

Paige stared pensively into space.

"Have you ever thought about why we didn't help him in the future?"

"Maybe he didn't tell us, or someone or something wouldn't let us, or…

or… Oh!"

"Yes you got that, sister…" Paige arched an eyebrow at Phoebe, to reassure that she had followed their train of thoughts.

"…or we simply were not there anymore! Have you thought about that…?" Phoebe stated.

"Speculations, speculations, speculations! Reach over his pillow and a scrying crystal and in no time we might get some authentic information.

Just let us do this in the right order…

First: Locate and heal

Then: Ask a zillion questions, as any good mother and aunts of a teenage boy would do to drive him out of the house of sheer annoyance."

…

It seemed like eternity that Chris sat unmoving on a rock overlooking the near valley not able to rivet his eyes on anything.

The sun had now fully claimed the sky and last dark hazes of the night had faded into oblivion.

It was another oh so bright peaceful day rising over the city of San Francisco that in a few years would become a horrible place – HELL!

Chris felt his aunts' presence long before she laid her hand gently on his shoulder.

"Hey!" she simply said, not really able to find any words.

There was a moment of tranquillity between the two Halliwells.

"You know, you were my favourite aunt in the future?!" Chris eventually broke the silence.

Paige swallowed at the "were" and what it implied, but at least this was a beginning – t least Chris was talking to her.

"I was the cool aunt, he?"

"You can bet on this…" Chris started for a moment blessed with oblivion and Paige could see his face lighten up. "…once there was this problem with my teacher and you…" but suddenly the boys face fell, all light faded at once.

"…forget it!" He stated sadly "…it doesn't matter anymore…" there he was again, the Chris Paige and her sisters had seen for most of the time. Too long, Paige decided.

"Oh for me it for sure matters! I'm going to be the favourite aunt of the most complicated and cagily and wonderful…and" Paige recounted with her fingers "and stubborn boy in history…! I'm in need of all the help I can get, I guess?!"

"Did you just say "wonderful"?" Chris asked with a small cheeky grin and a raised eyebrow that reminded Paige exceedingly on one certain charmed sister…!

"Course I did!"

"Ewww, that's so embarrassing!" And there it was again the part of a little boy that would for sure make him his favourite nephew one day.

"Anyways! Now that we clarified that I am your favourite aunt – by the way a good choice, considering that Piper is your mother and Leo undoubtedly your dad. – Lets just say you will need a hell of an aunt!! Or better two if I reconsider."

"Yeah, you and Phoebe bailed me out a lot. Even if Phoebe always tended to be Wyatt's favourite."

"So why don't we orb you home now to solve some of the problems you hid from us the whole time? And…" Paige raised her voice in mock threat at this, while she punched her youngest nephew lightly on his shoulder.

"… if you ever say "future consequences" again, I swear by the greater good that I will find a way to erase those two words from your vocabulary forever!"

They both had to laugh at this, and Paige noticed that she'd never seen the boy really laugh at all…

This had definitely to change!

"So are we ready?"

"No…" was all Chris could get out as she had already grabbed him and the two dissolved, leaving the peaceful place for the birds that welcomed the day twittering merrily, free from the care what it might bring…

TBC…