The Unknown Destiny

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Thirty-eight: Preparing for Battle

Fuming with anger, Chris tossed another ingredient into the cauldron, making it slowly turn a greenish-yellow. A grin spread across his face in satisfaction. It was nearly ready now.

Running his hands through his hair, he stirred the potion absently, trying very hard not to think about what had just occurred in the future with his mother. His eyes shut tightly as his mind involuntarily projected the image of his bleeding and dying mother in his arms.

"Chris," she whispered as he held her in his arms, crying. He had tried desperately to get out of the manor—to get them both out—but Wyatt had blocked orbing and sealed off the exits. "Sweetie, you have to get away from here. Go after Keith; find out what's happened."

"No." Chris shook his head violently, burying his head into his mom's shoulder, unable to look at the bloody wound in her chest. "No, Mom, I won't leave you. I can't. Please, just hold on . . . hold on, I need you."

Susan smiled slightly and cupped his head in her hands. "My little boy," she said softly, her eyes filled with pride. Chris tried to pull his gaze away, but his mom wouldn't let go. "It's up to you now. You have to go back and find out what happened . . . and stop all of this."

"But—but Mom—"

"No buts, Christopher Perry Dawson," Susan said firmly. Chris knew then that she was serious; she never called him by his full name unless he'd done something wrong or she was absolutely serious. "Go, go now! Before . . . before he comes back . . ." Her strength was waning; Chris could see that just by looking at her. "Go . . ."

Chris shook his head vigorously. "No," he protested. "No, Mom, I won't. I won't leave you here."

"You have to," Susan murmured, her eyes focused on him. Chris was shaking and he pushed away the tears that were gathered at the edge of his eyes, unwilling to let them fall.

"I can't just let you die here," Chris cried. He was startled at how forced his voice sounded and inwardly cursed himself for sounding so vulnerable. But he didn't know how anybody could not be vulnerable in this situation.

Reaching up, Susan caressed his cheek and Chris shuddered at how cold her hand felt. "It'll be all right, sweetie," she told him, her voice so quiet he could barely even hear it. "Everything will be all right in the end, you'll see." Chris sniffled as he leaned against his mom's hand. "My baby boy," Susan whispered softly as he did so. "I'm proud of you, Chris. You're everything that I could have ever hoped for in a son and so much more."

"Mom—"

"Chris, go." Her voice was soft. "Go after Keith in the past. Save Wyatt and your cousins. Go!" The last word was forced.

Nodding once, Chris took one last look at his mom before running to the Book of Shadows, flipping through it for the spell that he'd wrote about two weeks ago to send Keith to the past. His mom had thought that it was so good that she'd allowed him to add it to the Book.

When he found it, he used his telekinesis to draw the Triquetra on the wall before he read the spell from the Book, tearing it out so that Wyatt couldn't follow him. He really didn't want to try and find out what the evil version of his older cousin was capable of doing to him, considering what he'd just done to Susan, his own aunt.

"Hear these words, hear my rhyme.

Heed the hope within my mind.

Send me back, to where I'll find.

What I wish in place and time."

(AN: Spell taken from Charmed Episode "Chris-crossed").

The Triquetra sputtered blue and white lights as Chris rushed over to his mom one last time. "Mom, I love you so much," he whispered, kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry. I love you."

"This isn't your fault," Susan whispered, stroking his cheek tenderly. "And I love you, too, sweetie. Now go. Go now, my little adventurer. Go . . ." The last word came out so soft and her head slowly turned away from him. Chris blinked back tears, knowing that she was gone. Shoulders racking with grief and anguish, Chris buried his head into her chest, sobbing.

Looking up as he heard a Darklighter orb into the room, Chris leaped out of the way as an arrow was shot his way. Not thinking twice, he raced towards the still-sputtering wall, only taking one last glance back at his mom as he flung himself into it.

Feeling a hand touch his shoulder, Chris started and looked around, finding his dad standing behind him, looking concerned. "You all right, buddy?" Shawn asked him gently.

Letting out a bitter laugh, Chris shook his head. "I just watched my mom die in my arms, Dad," he said quietly. "What can possibly be all right about that?" He hadn't realised that he was crying until he rubbed his eyes and found wetness there.

Shawn's passive expression turned instantly into an anguished one, similar to his son's. "Well, we're gonna—" His voice faltered slightly. Clearing his throat, Shawn continued, "We're gonna change that. She's not gonna die, Chris. I promise," he added firmly. "Your mom is going to be fine. When you get back, she'll be waiting for you."

Chris smiled slightly at that. "Thanks, Dad," he said honestly. Shawn nodded as he looked away, pushing away the tears. Once Chris was sure that his face was clear, he looked up at his dad again. "I'm, uh . . . almost done with the potion. Aunt Brooke and Keith find those demons yet?"

"Yeah, actually, we did," Keith said, appearing in the doorway. He looked hesitate, as though afraid Chris was still mad at him. Which, essentially, he was. But he wasn't going to hold a grudge against him when lives were at stake. "Basic low-level demons with fireball powers and energy balls. But Anderson's an Upper-Level demon that needs the Power of Three to be vanquished. That must be why he sent Dad, Aunt Susan, and Uncle Nathan to the past, so they couldn't vanquish him until after it was too late."

"Great, that makes me feel so much better," Chris said sarcastically. Keith made a face at him. "Well, I've got enough potions here so that we might be able to seriously wound him."

"Aunt Susan's potions?"

"Don't you know it," Chris said, grinning. His mom was the potion-maker of the family and he'd inherited her skill and talent. She could make some pretty powerful potions, some of which he had mixed. "Just don't tell her what's in them," he warned his cousin. "She'll have to invent them on her own in her own time."

"Spoilsport," Keith grumbled as he snatched up a couple of potions and pocketed them.

"Where's Aunt Brooke, anyway?" Chris wanted to know, noticing his witch aunt's absence. He looked over Keith's shoulder, expecting her to pop out of nowhere.

"Bathroom," Keith explained with a shrug. "She'll be right down. And by the way, we tried scrying for the demon and nothing came up. So either he's blocking us or—"

"They're in the Underworld," Shawn finished up for his nephew. "Whitelighters can sense one another, unless they're down there. And I can't sense Haley."

Chris sighed dramatically. "And the news just keeps getting better and better." Tossing the last ingredient in the potion, he immediately ducked as it exploded. Emerging from underneath the island, Chris waved away the smoke before pouring the potion into some vials.

"Are you even paying attention to the recipe?" Shawn wondered as he watched his son. His eyebrows were raised in surprise and amusement.

"Nope." Chris continued pouring the potion as he glanced sideways at his father. "Trust me, Dad, the potions that I make work a lot better when I don't use recipes."

"He's right," Keith put in an input. "It's like Aunt Susan and her cooking. They taste great, especially when she doesn't read the recipes and just sort of invents stuff. Come to think of it," he added, "she does the same thing with her own potions." He frowned. "Maybe we should put a new theory on this when we get back."

Chris smiled ruefully, but his eyes were suddenly downcast. "If we ever get back," he commented.

"Buddy, you're gonna make it back," Shawn said firmly.

"Uncle Shawn's right, Chris," Keith said, looking annoyed. "Your mom wouldn't have sent us on this suicide mission if she thought that there was any chance of us not making it back."

"Oh, no, she sent you on this suicide mission," Chris argued. "She sent me because our psycho cousin would've killed me if I stayed."

"Well, that too." Keith winced slightly, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully. "So it's really that bad back home?"

The look that Chris shot him was enough of an answer. "Okay, so here's the plan," he said, not answering his cousin verbally. "We orb to Anderson's cave, get Aunt Haley out, then somehow get Mom and the uncles back here before he comes after us again and turns Wyatt against us and uses him to bring Dan back to life and take over the world." He paused in his speech, taking a deep breath. "This we can do that?"

"It can't be that hard," Keith said reasonably. "We've been doing it our entire lives. Or at least our parents have."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Brooke grumbled as she appeared in the doorway, still looking a bit nauseous. "Wasn't there a point in you guys' lives when you were actually safe?"

Keith and Chris exchanged looks and then returned their attention to her. "Nope," they both said together. Brooke let out a half-groan as she collapsed into a chair, putting her head into her arms. Chris hid a smile as Keith patted her on the back comfortingly.

"Sorry, Mom, but it's our curse for being the kids of the Charmed Ones," he said, trying not to smile. "And don't forget, we had our powers to protect ourselves most of the time."

Brooke let out a sigh. "And that did so well to protect your sister," she said quietly, casting her eyes downward to her swollen stomach. She shook her head. "I cannot believe that there are three Charmed kids on the way. Please don't tell me that you have an older sibling," she added to Chris.

"Nope," Chris said lightly. "Only child."

Keith gave him a look and opened his mouth to say something, but Chris immediately clamped his hand over his cousin's mouth, preventing him from saying anything. "Not a word out of you," he warned him, shooting daggers at the eldest Charmed son. "Not a word."

"Not a word about what?" Brooke asked interestedly, looking between her son and nephew expectantly.

"Future consequences," Chris said shortly. Glaring at his cousin, he slipped some potions into his pocket before heading over to the counter, scribbling a note onto the refrigerator. Noticing his dad's look, he explained, "Just in case they get back before we do, they'll know where we're at."

"You should tell them," Keith said in an undertone to Chris as his cousin wrote the note. "It could save your little brother, you know."

"That's not the future we came back here to change," Chris countered, posting the note onto the fridge. Seeing Keith's astonished look, he said quietly, "You know perfectly well that we can't mess with people's destiny. Maybe that was meant to happen that day. Even if we did try and save him, it could still end up happening. And then it would be worse because they did know and couldn't save him."

"Isn't it a bigger risk not to tell them?" Keith hissed. "Maybe saving him is part of why we came here."

"No."

Keith shook his head, exasperated with his cousin's stubbornness. And it was no use trying to change his mind; once it was made up, that was it. "I still think that you should tell them. You're gonna end up regretting it later if you don't."

Chris gave him an irritated look. "Well, that's my decision to make," he retorted. "Just leave it alone, Keith."

Before Keith could respond, Chris walked over to his dad. "All right, let's go," he said, taking his dad's hand. Keith sighed and joined them, taking his cousin and mother's hands. Seconds later, they orbed out, disappearing in a swirl of white lights.