FALSE MEMORIES
My first posted story here. Also my first Charmed Fanfic, although I have written fanfiction for other shows.
Disclaimer: The characters in Charmed do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Summary: Loved the Piper/Leo/Chris family dynamic in Season 6 so that's when this story is based. Set after Chris-Crossed and Prince Charming. Nobody knows who Chris is yet, but they're about to find out, courtesy of an unexpected visitor from the future…
Notes: Hiya everyone! New chapter for you. Hope you enjoy!
If you remember last time, our intrepid heroes and heroines were planning for Chris to switch powers with Future Wyatt so that he could take on Alcathan as the prophecy predicted. Evil Wyatt was then going to be brought to the past to protect him from his enemies in the future…
Chapter 29
Two weeks later, Chris was to be found sitting on lush, green grass down by the waterfront, his back resting against the trunk of a tree and his legs stretched out in front of him. He was gazing out over the shimmering water, his eyes lost in reflective thought.
Usually the Bridge was his sitting and thinking place, a habit that he had acquired from his father. Lately though, going up there seemed such a … well, magical thing to do and, for some reason, he felt the need to stay in touch with his human side at present. So now, whenever he needed some space from the saving-the-world activities at home, he came down here to chill out instead.
It was such an ordinary place. The hustle and bustle of everyday human life continued on oblivious around him, all those people completely unaware that, in a few weeks time, an event would occur, an event that would change the course of history and expose them to a world that they never knew existed.
Unless he, Christopher Halliwell, stopped it from happening that was.
And therein lay the problem, the stark truth that kept him awake night after night. It wasn't just about stopping his brother from turning evil anymore, the entire future of humanity rested in his hands. It was a heavy burden and one that Chris wasn't sure he was up to carrying. This was supposed to be Wyatt's responsibility. He was the Ultimate Power after all; Chris was only meant to be part of the tag team. Yet, somehow, it was he who had been thrust into the limelight as the world's reluctant champion in his brother's place.
Sure, he had volunteered for the job, but that wasn't the point. Was he really capable of eliminating Alcathan or would he die in the attempt? This wasn't some ordinary foe he was facing. It was the Upper Level Demon so feared by the Elders, and the one who had managed to corrupt a soul as strong and pure as Wyatt's. What hope had Chris against such an adversary if his older, more powerful sibling hadn't been able to resist?
Chris shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the negative thoughts plaguing him. He was scared, that was the plain truth of it, and his nerves were growing ever more debilitating with each day that passed. What was taking his Dad so long in the future, he wondered. He wished they could just get on with it already, at least then he would have something constructive to focus his energies on. All this waiting around was driving him crazy.
The girls had cracked the crystal cage dilemma a week ago. 'The Power of Three with a little extra Charmed kick' was how his Aunt Paige had described their solution - the extra kick being his own power coupled with that of Melinda Warren's amulet. It had worked though. Despite what Chris had thrown at it, the crystal cage had held fast, Wyatt would not be able to break out of it with only his younger brother's powers at his disposal.
After they'd successfully completed this necessary task, they'd sent a magical message through time to let Future Leo know that they were ready to roll. Unfortunately, they were yet to receive a similar communication in return. Chris knew his father had warned them that it could take some time to separate Wyatt from his demon bodyguards, but he was surprised at the length of the delay even so.
Wyatt never usually passed up the chance to taunt their father with what he'd become, you see. It was his favourite pastime, second only to trying to persuade his little brother to join his evil campaign. Things must be really bad for him not to take the bait when the opportunity presented itself therefore. Chris had no doubt that his sibling would succumb in the end however, because Wyatt still wanted to maintain some sort of personal connection with his family, regardless of how useless and unimaginative he proclaimed them to be.
Chris was absolutely certain that this was the reason that Wyatt had only imprisoned their Aunts instead of killing them, and also why he and his father had escaped his brother's dominion relatively unscathed. Wyatt still loved them in some shape or form, despite all of his protestations to the contrary. He'd just lost sight of what that love meant and turned into something else that he needed to control and regiment.
'Chris – Dinner'll be ready in an hour,' his mother's voice sounded in his head then and he smiled.
She'd only just realised that she could communicate with him in this way, rather than simply call his name when she needed him, and it brought back fond memories of his childhood every time she did it. His ears had been filled with similar such instructions throughout the majority of his early life and they echoed back at him whenever she spoke in his mind these days:
'Chris, Wyatt – will you two be quiet and go to sleep!'
'Chris – curfew in ten minutes!'
'Chris – if you're out demon hunting by yourself, you'll be grounded for a week. No actually, make that a month.'
'Chris – tell your brother to get his butt back here pronto! And tell him that if he ever puts me on mute again, he can kiss goodbye to any notion of freedom for the rest of his life!'
The lines between Present and Future Piper were slowly blurring for him. This younger version of his mother treated him in the same strict but affectionate way that his first Mom had. Sometimes it was almost as if she was back with him, not cold and lifeless in her grave and forever out of reach. The only real difference was that Present Piper didn't know him quite so well, having never shared any of his boyhood triumphs and traumas. Still, it was close enough and that cold, empty place inside his heart was gradually filling up with warmth again as a result.
Rising to his feet, Chris crossed the springy grass to rejoin the path that led back out onto the busy city streets. It was a warm and sunny day so he figured he'd walk back to the Manor rather than orbing. He should make it home in time for dinner if he didn't dawdle too much.
In recent weeks, he'd discovered a peculiar kind of comfort in these everyday human pastimes. They had been missing from his life for such a long time that he wanted to revel in their return. You never truly appreciated such things until they were denied you, and Chris had learnt that fact the hard way. He would never again fail to appreciate the simple pleasures in life that was for sure.
He ambled along in a world of his own for around twenty minutes before a distant scream attracted his attention. Looking up sharply, he was initially surprised by the lack of reaction from the other passers-by - until he realised that maybe it was a call that only he could hear, a call of a witch in distress. A faint plea for 'Help' echoed inside his head again and he quickened his pace, ducking into a deserted side street so that he could orb to wherever he was needed.
This turned out to be a garbage-strewn alleyway one block over, where he discovered a slender witch in her early twenties struggling to free herself from the clutches of a particularly brawny demon, who stood about seven feet tall and had the broad shoulders of an ox as well as limbs as thick as tree-trunks.
"Hey!" Chris shouted in attempt to draw the demon's attention away from his victim and towards him instead.
Luckily, the ruse worked. The demon was momentarily distracted and the wily young woman quickly extracted herself from his grasp and sprinted out of harm's way. With a roar of complaint, the huge demon advanced on Chris who threw him into the side of a large dumpster with his telekinesis power, exercising a great deal of physical and mental effort to do so.
Then, while his opponent was struggling to rise to his feet, he desperately cast about for something to use as a weapon. Why oh why didn't any of his powers have a vanquishing effect? And more to the point, why the hell hadn't he brought any potions with him that would? Just as he was thinking that perhaps the best option was to just grab the girl and orb out, a sharp cry of 'Look out!' made him spin around.
Another demon had shimmered in behind him, armed with a silver athame that glinted ominously as it caught the late afternoon sunlight. Before he'd even had time to react, the demon made a diagonal slashing motion with his knife and Chris felt a sting of pain as the sharp metal cut into his flesh.
Raising his hand to ward off any further attack, he was astonished when the demon simply shimmered away and didn't attempt to injure him further. He immediately whirled around to confront the first assailant again, only to find that this demon had also disappeared. What the hell was going on here?
"Are you okay?" The girl hurried to his side, her pretty face a picture of dismay. "Oh my god, you're bleeding!"
Chris pulled up his t-shirt up to get a better look at the wound. The long, thin cut across his lower abdomen was oozing scarlet blood, but luckily didn't appear to be much more than a nasty scratch.
"No worries, it's just a little nick," he assured her. "I'm Chris by the way," he introduced himself.
"Stacey," the young witch responded with an incline of her head. "And thanks for rescuing me. Lucky there was a handy whitelighter around, huh?"
"I guess - although I'm not sure I exactly rescued you to be honest," Chris replied modestly. "That was like weird – those demons just shimmering away like that. Do you have any idea what they were after?"
Stacey shook her head. "No. Perhaps I was just picked out at random."
"You're a witch though," Chris pointed out. "So it can't have been that random."
Stacey shrugged. "A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time then," she suggested.
"Maybe," Chris agreed somewhat dubiously. "I still think we should check it out to be on the safe side."
"We?" Stacey questioned.
"Me and my family," Chris replied, holding his hand out towards her. "Come on, I'll orb us back home."
Not sure why she trusted this mysterious stranger but knowing that she did, Stacey slipped her fingers into his and allowed him to transport her 'home', wherever that was. They materialised in homely-looking lounge furnished with a large creamy-beige coloured sofa and several matching armchairs. Looking around the rest of the room, her eyes widened as her gaze fell on a framed photo standing on the mantle. It was picture of three women with a baby boy in a stroller and it suddenly hit her where she was.
"Umm… y-your family?" she asked tremulously. "They're err… the Halliwells? The Charmed Ones?"
"Yeah – err… long story," Chris replied an offhand manner. "Don't worry, we don't bite," he added off her wild-eyed look.
"Hey guys?" he raised his voice to call out to his relatives. "I could use some help in here."
"What is it sweetie?" Piper bustled in from the kitchen, a worried expression on her face. Paige was close on her heels and it wasn't long before Phoebe's footsteps sounded on the stairs.
"Umm – this is Stacey. She was attacked by a demon just now and I…"
"You're bleeding!" Piper interrupted, her eyes spying the jagged, bloodstained rip in his t-shirt.
"It's nothing, Mom," Chris said, dismissing her concern with an absent wave of his hand. "It's only a scratch, hardly worth Dad healing really."
"Mom? Dad?" Stacey looked incredulously between the apparent mother and son and then shook her head. "I think I need to sit down," she said.
Chris grinned. "I'm umm… from the future," he explained. "About twenty years. As I said – a long story."
Stacey pursed her lips. "Okaay… So not gonna ask any more questions…"
Chris laughed.
"LEO!"
"Mom! I said there was no need."
There was a whirl of blue lights. "What is it?"
"Your son is hurt," Piper informed her husband.
"I'm fine, Dad. Honestly," Chris protested. "Look… it's nothing." He raised his t-shirt to show them.
"It doesn't look too serious," Leo agreed as he bent to examine the wound. "I might as well heal it now that I'm here though."
He reached out and placed his hand over the cut and Chris felt the familiar warmth of his father's healing power against his skin. Seconds later though, a sharp, stabbing pain burned in his abdomen and he gasped, doubling over slightly.
"What's the matter?" Leo asked as he took his glowing hand away.
Chris looked down at the cut, which was now completely healed, and frowned. "It hurt that's all," he said. "Is that normal?"
"No, but it's not completely unheard of either," Leo replied calmly. "Does it feel okay now?"
Chris pressed his stomach with his fingertips, testing this out. "Yeah – it feels fine."
"Then I shouldn't think there's anything to worry about then," Leo said, patting his son's shoulder reassuringly.
Chris nodded and turned his attention back to their innocent. "Stacey doesn't think she was a specific target," he explained to his Mom and Aunts, "But I figured we should check the demons out in the Book anyway."
"And the fact that she's good-looking doesn't have anything to do with it at all, I suppose?" Phoebe murmured in his ear as they all trouped up the stairs to the attic to consult the Book of Shadows.
"What?"
Chris was actually shocked at the suggestion. He was so focused on what he was doing here, that the thought of being with anyone but Bianca hadn't even occurred to him. He'd not even had time to mourn her properly yet and, if he saved the future, then they'd be back together again anyhow.
"I'm engaged," he told his Aunt, "And besides, I didn't come here to socialise."
"All right," Phoebe conceded, "But there's nothing wrong with making a few friends of your own age while you're here, is there? You deserve a little down time and she seems nice."
Chris couldn't argue with that. Stacey did seem nice, but that was hardly the point. He had work to do. He couldn't let himself get distracted by something as commonplace as making friends when the future of the world was at stake. Besides, he was soon to have company of his own age in the form of his older brother – a reunion that he was both dreading and strangely anticipating at the same time.
It was stupid; considering the last time they met, Wyatt had tried to kill him. However, being around baby Wyatt these last few months had reminded him that he'd been a good brother once. Okay so, on occasion, he was a bit of a handful for his parents, but it wasn't until after Piper's death that Wyatt had really gone off the rails. Before that, he'd been a relatively normal boy – or at least as normal as anyone who was Twice-Blessed ever could be.
It was this Wyatt that Chris was fighting tooth and nail to save however, because he certainly didn't feel any loyalty towards the tyrant who had murdered his fiancée and tricked him into believing his father indifferent to him. What made the situation complicated was that a small part of the old Wyatt still existed inside the evil version, a consequence of him not completely severing the link with his family, Chris now realised.
Their brotherly bond held Wyatt back from becoming the worst he could be. Only trouble was the halfway house wasn't much better, which is why all this was necessary in the first place. Chris knew that this forthcoming reunion would be the final goodbye however, and that prospect filled him with bittersweet emotion.
How different would a good Wyatt be? Would the brother he'd known growing up be gone forever or would part of him remain inside the new future's Wyatt? There was no way of knowing for sure. He would simply have to wait and see.
"Chris?"
Startled out of his musings, Chris jumped at sound of his youngest Aunt's voice. "Huh?"
"Are these the demons?" Paige said, showing him the hand-drawn picture in the Book.
Her nephew nodded. "Yeah – that looks like them."
"Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about then," Paige told their new acquaintance. "It says here that Witch-baiting is a sport to them. You were probably just selected at random to take part in a game."
"And that makes me feel so much better," Stacey said with a roll of her eyes.
Paige smiled at the girl's sarcastic wit. "What I meant was, they're unlikely to come after you again," she clarified. "But I'll give you our number in case you do run into any more trouble."
"And you could always call for Chris if all else fails," Phoebe put in, earning herself a 'stop interfering' glare from her nephew which she conveniently ignored.
"Anyway, now that you're here, how about you stay and have dinner with us?" she asked brightly. "I'm sure Piper has made more than enough food to go around."
"Umm, thanks for the offer," Stacey replied, slightly bemused by Phoebe's overfriendliness. "But I'm supposed to be meeting some friends and I'm already late. They'll be wondering where I've gotten to."
"Another time maybe then?" Phoebe pressed.
"Sure, yeah, okay," the young witch agreed somewhat hesitantly.
"Great! We'll call you," Phoebe went on as Paige handed their pretty visitor a piece of paper with their cell phone numbers written on it.
Stacey returned the gesture at the middle Charmed One's insistence, who then unceremoniously shoved her nephew forward before he could object. "Chris'll show you out," she said, herding the two young people out of the door.
"Is she always like that?" Stacey asked as she and Chris descended the stairs. "Phoebe I mean?"
"What? Criminally insane?" Chris said acidly, "Pretty much - yeah."
Stacey laughed. "She is kind of pushy," she remarked.
"Oh, you'd noticed? How surprising."
"So - are you really that lovelorn?" Stacey asked slyly.
"I'm sorry?" Chris said, a little flustered at the enquiry.
Stacey grinned. "Well, that is what all this is about, right? The dinner invitation and everything?"
"Umm, yeah I guess. Sorry about that. She doesn't know when to keep her nose out."
Stacey nodded. "Right - and the answer to my other question?"
Chris looked at her, his eyebrows raised. "Now who's being pushy?"
His female companion shrugged. "Just curious," she said lightly.
"I'm…," Chris broke off and sighed.
"Bad break-up?"
"In a manner of speaking," Chris replied. "It's complicated."
"Well complicated relationships I don't do," Stacey said. "I've been burned a few too many times thank you very much. Friendship I can handle though – that is unless you'd rather not give your Aunt the satisfaction?"
Despite his discomfort, Chris laughed, he couldn't help it. "No, I'd like that. Just so long as you understand that there can't be anything more to it than that."
Stacey nodded. "Yeah, I kind of figured that," she said. "I'll try to bear the disappointment as best I can."
Chris grinned, her open and friendly manner dispelling his shyness. "I think I'm insulted," he said of her teasing comment.
"Hey! You're the one who failed to take advantage of my damsel-in-distress situation," she returned, quick as a flash.
"You're nuts," he told her with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah so my friends often tell me. Speaking of which – why don't you join us tonight? It's just a casual night out, nothing special. Basically just dinner and a movie – there's a whole group of us going."
"Not all female," she added when he hesitated. "So you needn't worry about that."
"I wasn't!" Chris protested rather unconvincingly.
"Of course not," Stacey replied with a knowing smile.
Chris shook his head; she reminded him so much of one of his closest friends, it was uncanny. Come to think of it… "What did you say your surname was?" he asked.
"I didn't, but it's Macklin."
His eyes widened. "You don't have a daughter by any chance, do you?" he asked.
"No, not that I know of. Why?"
"It's nothing. You just remind me of someone I know that's all. A friend of mine from the future – Sarah."
"Her name is Sarah Macklin?"
"Yes."
Stacey stared at him in astonishment. "But that's my niece. My brother's daughter. She's only six weeks old though. Isn't she a bit young to be your friend?"
Chris smiled at her confusion. She obviously hadn't made the connection. "You did notice Piper was pregnant, right?"
"Well yes but… whoa, is the 'bump' you?"
"Got it in one," Chris replied. "Only don't tell anyone, okay? It's supposed to be a secret."
"Your secret's safe with me," Stacey said and then looked curiously at him. "Are you and Sarah like… good friends in the future?" she asked.
Chris smiled at the suggestive inflection in her voice. "Yeah, but not in that way you're implying. It's purely platonic, I assure you."
"Okay so…"
"Uh-huh…," Chris interrupted with a shake of his head.
"Uh-huh what?"
"No more future details. It's bad karma."
"Okay. Gotcha," Stacey agreed. "Just one thing…"
"What?"
"What about… well me?"
"We've never met," Chris said, "Although I do remember Sarah mentioning her Aunt Stacey now that I think about it. I think you lived in Philadelphia or something."
"Cool!" Stacey replied. "So, are you joining us tonight then or what?"
Chris had originally been intending to refuse, but the discovery of Stacey's connection to his long-time friend changed his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, Phoebe was right. Taking some time out to socialise with people his own age would do him the world of good. It would take his mind off the impending battle with Alcathan for a bit, and, if Stacey was as similar in personality to Sarah as she appeared to be, he didn't think he would have too much trouble fitting in with her and her friends.
"All right," he agreed. "Just give me a minute to go change and let Mom know where I'm going."
"You're not going to tell Phoebe?" Stacey asked in an arch tone.
"Please!" Chris replied with an exaggerated shudder. "She'd be insufferable."
Stacey's face split into a broad smile. "Yes, I can well imagine," she said laughingly.
OOOOOO
Chris's sleep was filled with a confused welter of dreams that night and he woke the next morning decidedly fuzzyheaded. He was also extremely hot, his body dripping with sweat and the cotton sheets sticking to his clammy skin like limpets to a rock.
Pushing the bedclothes aside, he stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water in an attempt to cool off. This revived him a little so he decided a shower might also help. As he stood under the cascade of water, trying to shake off the weird sensation of not quite being present in his body, he cast his mind back over the previous evening's events.
He'd had fun with Stacey and her friends. It was almost like being home again. His family were great, but he hadn't realised how much he missed hanging out with his peers until now. He knew that, in this time, his Mom and Aunts weren't much older than he was, but he'd never been able to view them in that way so it didn't count.
Mind you, that was probably why he'd been unable to exercise any authority over them as their whitelighter. Although, according to his Dad, there wasn't anything particularly unusual about that where the Charmed Ones were concerned. They'd always done their own thing. In the end, that's what made them the unique women they were.
Stacey had made him promise to keep in touch, but he wasn't really sure how feasible that was going to be. Things were about to come to a head on the Alcathan front and he didn't want to drag her into any of that. He decided it was probably best to keep his distance, only he got the impression that she wasn't going to let him escape that easily.
They had clicked – in the same way that he and Sarah always had – although Phoebe was going to be disappointed because romance was definitely off the menu. For one, his heart still belonged to Bianca and secondly, they simply weren't suited in that way. Besides, it would be like dating Sarah and that was just plain wrong. They'd never been a hint of anything more than friendship between them and he liked it that way, they both did.
They'd met at Magic School in first grade and had been friends ever since, the fact that they were the opposite sex was utterly irrelevant as far as Chris was concerned. Yes, they had drifted apart at various points over the years, but she'd been the only one of his friends brave enough to visit him after his Mom's death. He still didn't remember much about that time, but he did now remember Sarah sitting cross-legged on his bed, chattering away as if everything was normal and he wasn't just staring blankly at the opposite wall.
She'd never mentioned this to him, ever – obviously, like his family, heeding the doctor's advice and carrying on as if nothing had happened. He should thank her when he got back… only he wasn't going back, was he? Not to the same future, not to his old life. Now that he'd met Stacey, he knew his friendship with Sarah was probably inevitable, but she was just one more thing that he had to let go of. He just hoped that the new future made up for all that he'd had to sacrifice in the old one.
"Hey! Nephew of mine? What's taking so long?"
Chris jumped as Paige knocked irritably on the door. "I'm nearly done," he called out to her. "Just give me a few more minutes."
"If you've used all the hot water, I'll make you boil some more," she grumbled at him before he heard her footsteps retreat back down the corridor.
Quickly finishing his morning ablutions, he got dressed and made his way downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. His Mom, as ever, was going about her daily chores in a typically industrious manner, while Paige sat at the end of the table, still dressed in her pyjamas and her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee.
Phoebe meanwhile, was working her way through a large bowl of mixed fruit and reading a rival's column, one that she evidently disapproved of, given the disgusted expression on her face and the loud tutting sounds that issued forth from her lips at regular intervals. It was probably that guy she kept turning into farmyard animals – Chris couldn't recall his name.
"'Iss!"
Little Wyatt broke off from banging his spoon on the tray of his highchair to greet his brother in his high-pitched voice and Chris smiled.
"Morning little-big bro," he said as he sat down in an empty chair and helped himself to a blueberry muffin.
"Coffee?" His Mom appeared at his elbow, holding a half-full pot of the aromatic liquid.
Chris shook his head. "No thanks, Mom, I think I'll just have some orange juice. It's hot today, isn't it?"
Still half asleep, Paige blinked owlishly at him over the rim of her mug of coffee. "It's raining," she told him flatly.
"Oh!" Chris frowned. "I was sweltering last night."
Piper eyed her son with concern. His vivid green eyes were just that little bit too bright and two spots of pink stood out on his cheekbones. She reached out and placed the back of her hand against his forehead.
"Honey, you're burning up!"
"I am?" Chris looked at her in surprise. "I feel okay. Just a bit fuzzyheaded – I slept really badly last night." He shrugged. "It's probably just a virus or something."
"All right, but get your Dad to heal you when he gets here. You can't afford to be sick right now."
"Sure Mom," her son agreed amiably, clearly thinking she was fussing but obviously seeing no point in arguing with her. "Where is he any…?"
Chris broke off as a small spiral of golden stars materialised out of thin air just above the centre of the table. When the twinkles of light faded, a folded piece of paper fluttered down in their wake and Chris plucked the note out of the air before it hit the tabletop. His Mom and Aunts gathered behind him as he quickly unfolded it and read the four words written upon it:
'One Hour. Be Ready.'
Chris's stomach lurched horribly. This was it. There was no going back now. His Mom and Aunts seemed to be thinking much the same thing because there was a noticeable pause before they all suddenly sprang into action.
"LEO!" Piper yelled for her husband.
"I'll get dressed and meet you in the attic." Paige said, orbing out in a musical flurry of blue lights.
"I'll sort out the crystals for the cage," Phoebe called out over her shoulder as she dashed out the kitchen and up the stairs.
Chris sat staring at the note in his hands, his insides churning and his heart beating considerably faster than normal.
"Are you okay, honey?" Piper said, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "LEO!" she yelled again.
Chris nodded dumbly, an action that caused a wave of dizziness to crash over him. Piper gasped as her son suddenly turned a worrying shade of green and swayed in his seat.
"LEO!" she called out for a third time and, finally, the Elder orbed in.
"Where have you been?" she demanded snappily.
"I told you," Leo said, "Arranging for you and Wyatt to stay at Magic School for a while. What's the matter?"
"Firstly, Chris is sick and secondly, it's time. Your other self sent us that note." She gestured at the piece of paper still clutched tightly between Chris's fingers.
Placing his palm against his son's forehead to heal him, Leo reached out and took the note from him with his other hand.
"Do you think we should be worried?" Piper asked after Chris had gone upstairs to help his Aunts get things ready. "About Chris being sick, I mean."
Leo shook his head. "He's just a bit susceptible that's all. He doesn't have much immunity to this time's viruses and he's been in contact with other humans a lot lately. It's hardly surprising he's picked something up."
"And some of it might be psychosomatic of course," he added. "With everything he's been through, I think we sometimes forget that he's still only twenty-two. This is a lot for him to handle. He's bound to be apprehensive."
Piper nodded as she lifted her other son from his highchair. "I wish it didn't have to be this way," she said worriedly.
Leo leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "It's one or the other of them, Piper," he said, smoothing his hand over Wyatt's blond curls. "Are you going to choose?"
Piper sighed and looked down at the child in her arms, then back up at her husband, her brown eyes large and fearful. "What if we lose him?"
"You can't think like that, Piper."
"But it's a possibility," his wife argued. "What sort of parents are we - putting one of our children in that kind of danger?"
Leo sighed. "Look, god knows if there was any other way… But Chris is a grown man, he knows his own mind. Do you think if we tried to stop him, he would just walk away? No, he's come too far, fought too long to do that. The best thing we can do right now is support him every which way we can."
Piper nodded and then drew on her inner reserves of strength and pulled herself together. "Okay, let's get on with it," she said.
OOOOOO
The Attic, half an hour later…
Pacing up and down and trying to calm his agitation, Chris scratched absently at his stomach, which was itching like all get out. Had his Mom been using a different laundry detergent lately?
"Is it time yet?" he demanded for about the tenth time.
Paige reached out and caught hold of both his forearms to halt his relentless pacing. "Calm, deep breaths," she advised.
Heeding this suggestion, Chris drew in a few measured breaths and felt his anxiety levels drop slightly. His nerves were still stretched tighter than a puppet on a string though. Losing his powers was a big deal and the fact that he'd gain Wyatt's in the process wasn't much of a comfort.
Sometimes, growing up, he'd wished for a more destructive power, but now that he was about to receive one – sorry, make that several – he was filled with untold dread. He didn't want to hurt anyone inadvertently, least all the most important people in his life – his beloved family. What if he had no control over Wyatt's powers at all? What would happen then?
"Listen to me," Leo took hold of his son's shoulders and looked him directly in the face. "You can do this. You just have to believe in yourself."
Letting out a raggedy breath, Chris nodded. "Is it time?" he asked again.
Leo drew his son into a brief hug and then released him. "I think we can get started," he decided.
Piper bent and lifted Wyatt out of the playpen, then set him down on his feet in front of her. "Okay little guy," she began but Chris interrupted her.
"I'll do it, Mom," he said, squatting down to his brother's level. "Wyatt?"
The little boy looked around at the sound of his name and then toddled unsteadily over to his brother. Chris drew in a deep breath.
"Now bro, I could really use your help, okay? A lot of bad things happened in my future and I came here to stop them…"
Chris paused for a moment and looked into his sibling's round and impossibly blue eyes. He wasn't sure whether the little boy understood him, but some sixth sense told him that he did.
"Only I need to borrow your powers to do that. I'm going to switch mine with the big grown-up Wyatt who lives in the future, but it means that you won't have your powers until I give them back. That's all right though because you and Mom are going to live at Magic School so the bad guys can't get to you. And even if they do, you know she'll blast them to pieces anyway. Between you and me, she's kind of crazy like that."
"Chris…" Piper said warningly as little Wyatt suddenly giggled.
Chris grinned unrepentantly at her. Now he definitely knew his brother understood. He turned back to Wyatt.
"All right so what d'ya think? Will you help me, kiddo?"
The little boy regarded him solemnly for a moment and then lifted his arms to be picked up. Taking this as a yes, Chris hoisted his brother up into his arms.
"You ready?" he asked the rest of his family. They nodded.
"Okay," he said expansively. "If everyone is sitting comfortably, let's get this show on the road…"
Drawing in another deep breath, he recited the power-switching spell:
"I offer up my gift to share,
Through space and time if you dare.
What's mine is yours, what's yours is mine,
Switch our powers through the air."
Two streams of blue stars emerged from both Wyatt and Chris as their powers left them, coalescing into separate clouds of shimmering light, which hung in mid-air almost as if they were waiting for something. The cloud on the right – Chris's – was significantly larger than the one on the left, which confused him for a moment until another ray of blue light burst forth from nothingness and merged with Wyatt's, restoring the correct balance.
The two power clouds hovered there for a second longer and then moved towards their intended targets, one through space and time to seek out the grown-up Wyatt and the other to Chris, who was almost knocked off his feet by the force of the blow. As he staggered backwards, he felt someone grab his elbow to steady him and baby Wyatt was quickly taken out of his arms.
Chris's head span uncontrollably for a few moments more and then the dizziness subsided. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself looking into his father's familiar blue-green gaze.
"Did it work?" Leo asked.
Chris bit back the hysterical laugh that threatened to burst from his lips and nodded. "Uhh yeah… I think it worked," he said rather shakily.
His own power was an underlying thing but Wyatt's… Wyatt's buzzed through every vein in his body, making his nerve-endings jangle and his hair almost stand on end. It was incredible. And a little frightening… I mean he could do almost anything…
"Don't let it consume you," Leo warned sharply, seeing the rather glazed expression in his son's eyes. "Shut it off like you do with your own powers."
Chris looked at his father, confused. Did he do that with his own powers? Then he realised that maybe he did, just without really thinking about it. Shaking off the addictive feeling of invincibility that Wyatt's powers filled him with, he forcibly returned his own mind, his own conscience, to the driving seat and things became much clearer.
"Wyatt!" he said sharply, glancing towards his Mom and Aunts, but they were already chanting the summoning spell.
Half a minute later, Future Leo materialised in the centre of the attic, supporting an unconscious Wyatt, who was slumped heavily against him. Carefully lowering his eldest son to the floor, he gestured to Phoebe and Paige to set up the crystal cage.
"Is he all right?" Piper demanded, her eyes fixed on her son as her sisters imprisoned him.
"Yeah, he's fine," Future Leo assured her. "Sleep dust – I figured it might be a good idea to knock him out for a while."
"Yeah, 'cus he's gonna be a major pain in the ass as soon as he wakes up," Chris said sardonically, his gaze also on the sleeping Wyatt.
"Precisely," Future Leo concurred, exchanging a faint smile with his younger son. "How are you doing?" he asked in a significant tone.
"Umm… it feels really weird," Chris confessed. "I know Wyatt and I have always had this sort of psychic connection, but this is just… weird. It's like he's inside my head or something."
Future Leo nodded. "I think that's what the prophecy meant," he said. "Wyatt's powers have a sort of consciousness. They're part of him, so in essence it'll be both of you going up against Alcathan when the time comes."
"'For the offspring of the Charmed Bride and her Groom of Light shall have the power to overcome him'." Chris murmured the line from the prophecy.
Future Leo nodded.
"Doesn't that mean we've just turned Chris evil then?" Paige asked. "I mean if Wyatt is…"
Future Leo shook his head. "No – people/demons are good or evil, Paige, not their powers. Powers just… are. It's how they're used that matters."
"So – can you use them then?" Paige asked her nephew.
Chris was suddenly, inexplicably nervous. "I don't…"
"Start with something simple," Present Leo suggested. "Try orbing. You already know how to do that."
Chris concentrated and attempted to orb. Unfortunately, nothing happened, although he did feel a slight tingling sensation. Closing his eyes, he tried again to locate the source of his brother's orbs, which seemed to come from a slightly different place to his own. It took one more failed attempt before he hit the jackpot and then he managed to orb in and out on the spot.
It felt decidedly odd though, almost if he was standing to one side of himself rather than being at one with his body. This proved to be problematic when he tried to orb further a field. His aim was a bit off and he kept orbing in too close to solid objects. He was covered in bumps and bruises before he mastered the art of directing his landing.
Next, Paige suggested that he try to orb objects towards him, but this he found completely impossible, despite her over-enthusiastic coaching. Eventually, Future Leo stepped in to call a halt to the proceedings.
"If he can't do this, how is he going to control the rest of Wyatt's powers?" Paige objected.
"I'm not sure he'll ever learn how to orb stuff, Paige," Future Leo said calmly.
"Why?"
"Chris is used to TK-ing things. So you're basically asking him to change a mindset that he's had for the majority of his life. Orbing objects is very similar to TK, but you do have to think slightly differently to do it. Maybe the difference is just too subtle for Chris to grasp. It's no big deal in the long run anyway. He doesn't have to learn to control every one of Wyatt's powers, just enough to equip him appropriately when he goes up against Alcathan."
"I think the most important of those is Wyatt's shield," Piper said, still in overprotective Mom mode. "Why don't you try that?"
Chris regarded her steadily for a moment and then his lips quirked up into a mischievous smile. Reaching inside, he took hold of Wyatt's shield and projected it around himself with virtually no effort.
Piper's mouth dropped open. "How did you do that?"
Chris shrugged. "I already knew how. When we were kids, Wyatt used to lend it to me sometimes."
"But… but why?"
"I don't know. I guess, when we were small, he thought big brothers were supposed to protect their little brothers no matter what."
He glanced sadly over at the grown-up Wyatt who was snoring away to himself, the sleep dust still in effect. "Funny how times change," he said, bitterness creeping into his tone.
Piper reached up and cupped his face in her hands. "We're going to change things back," she said firmly.
Chris nodded. "Yeah, yeah we are," he agreed. "We have to because I'm not going back to the way things were before. I swear I'm not."
To be continued…
A/N2: Stacey turned into a bigger part than I originally intended. As I was writing this chapter, I thought it would be nice for Chris to have a friend of his own age to confide in, so she'll be popping up here and there between now and the end of the story.
Oh and the spell Chris uses is a slight rehash of one used in the show - the one where Phoebe and Piper switch powers.
