As promised for the long wait the last time, two chapters within a few days.

Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews. I hope you like this chapter as well.

Thanks to Ann for wasting her time finding my mistakes.

Chapter 50

When Wyatt woke up his head pounding, covered in dust and stones he needed a few moments to remember where he was. The demon's lair was totally destroyed. Wyatt pushed himself up and stumbled over the rocks around him. His shoulder hurt and blood was tripping down his face. He should have orbed out, there had been enough time but no, sometimes his reactions were just too slow. The thought of his brother suddenly hit him. If he hadn't been able to get out of here, Chris stood no chance at all even if he got conscious again in time.

"Chris?" he looked around himself but there was nothing but rocks and sand. "Chris?" Wyatt tumbled to where he thought the wall was his brother had been thrown against. He pushed some rocks away but obviously he wasn't at the right place. He took a trembling breath and called out his brother's name again and orbed him next to himself. The older brother thought that Chris looked fine considering a ceiling had fallen down on him. "Chris, wake up, come on. Good news, I vanquished the demon, bad news, I almost vanquished us as well by destroying half the underworld."

Wyatt got no reaction. He pushed his brother against his chest holding his hands out. The golden glow appeared and disappeared again. He frowned at this and tried again with the same result. He stroked some hair out of his brother's face feeling the wetness under the dark hair.

The blonde tried to heal the large, bloody wound but even before he started he knew it would be unsuccessful. There was only one thing he couldn't heal, the dead. His head had already formed the words but he still couldn't believe it. This was too sudden. People didn't just die like this. Especially not Chris. Not after all the problems over the last years. Then why were tears running down his dirty cheeks?

Wyatt held onto his brother, trying again to get the golden glow from his hands to bring him back.

When he finally gave up, he let his head drop on Chris' shoulder. Now, how was here supposed to get home tell his family what had happened?

"I'm so sorry, Chris. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."


Chris looked around himself confused. How the hell did he get back to the old apartment? Where were Wyatt and the demon? He should have trusted his instincts and not go to vanquish the demon but no, he couldn't trust Wyatt to do it right and had to go himself. And now, he was here. Wherever here was.

"Chris?"

Even before he turned around to the speaker, he knew who it was. "Just great, I'm dead. This is so like me, really."

"What are you doing here?" Kat asked.

"Is this your heaven and my hell?"

She crossed her arms over her chest. "None of it. You need to get out of here."

"You're telling me. But I don't even know how I got here, so how should I know how to get out of here."

"You are a witch," she replied as if it explained everything.

"You can't do everything when you are a witch. Usually, you can't come back from the dead. I know there are people who did it but I'm pretty sure it won't be me."

The young woman sat down on one of the armchairs. "You are not dead."

"But you are and seeing you makes me pretty dead as well. Especially here in limbo."

"Limbo? Still, you are not dead. So, you need to get out of here."

"Kat, listen to me, I don't know how I got here. I have no idea why I am here."

"Then you better find it out soon."

Chris sighed and fell on the sofa. "Any idea?"


Wyatt placed his brother's body on the old sofa in the attic and moved to the Book of Shadows on instinct. He hastily flipped through it. He had no idea what he was even looking for. Some things couldn't be made up again through magic. He closed the book with a loud thud.

"Mom!" Wyatt ran out of the attic. "Mom!"

Piper emerged her bedroom. "Shush, Josh's in bed. What's wrong?" She studied her son's face. "What happened, Wyatt?"

Fresh tears ran down the young man's cheek. Or did he never stop crying?

"Mom…I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"Sweetie, what is your fault?" Piper put his face in her head. "Tell me."

"It's Chris," Wyatt said.

"What's with him?"

"We went to vanquish the demon and he…He didn't make it."

Piper shook her head. "What?"

"He's dead, mom."

The oldest Charmed One covered her mouth with her hand. "Where is he?"

"Attic."

Mother and son climbed up the last stairs to the attic before Piper called for her half whitelighter sister.

Paige appeared in a rather fancy dress. She looked at her sister who was really pale, and then to her oldest nephew who seemed in even worse shape. She walked over to him and started to heal his scratches and the large wound on his shoulder. "What happened to you?"

Wyatt shook his head. "I'm fine. It's Chris."

Paige gave him a quizzically look but understood why the family members were in this state.

"Paige, try to heal him, please," Piper said.

"Piper…" The youngest sister couldn't tell her that there was no use but tried anyway.


"This is so typical," Chris finally said. He paced the floor between sofa and kitchen. "When everything is going right in my life for once, I die. It's unbelievable. Why did I even waste my time in the damn hospital? I won't even mention the money."

"You were in a hospital?" Kat asked.

"Don't you see anything from where you are?"

She shrugged. "I guess that's the price for being dead."

"It's alright. I'm not sick or anything. I just needed some help, you know."

"You needed help and admitted it. It's a miracle."

"That's what I learned there."

"So, you are okay again? Everything's going well?"

"Everything is going fine, finally. Actually, it is better than ever. For me, of course. But I obviously have nothing from it."

"How's Josh?"

Chris sat back down again. "He is great. He already can count to 28 and say the alphabet to H. He's the cleverest boy ever and grows up so quickly. I have to buy him new pants like every day. He is just like you. You should see him."

The blonde woman smiled but tears glistered in her eyes.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, no, it's fine. I mean, no it sucks. But it's not your fault. It's no one's fault. It is how it is. I miss him so much. And I miss you too. I just miss my life with everyone in it."

"I know." Chris looked around the apartment. It just looked like when they lived there, there even lay some toys near the TV. "I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" She walked to the window that showed nothing. "Like I said, it was not your fault."

"It was my fault on how I treated you," Chris said. "All the time I was saying that you ruined my life but maybe I ruined yours too. The only difference is, I have a second chance, and you don't. It's not fair."

"No one said life was fair. Or death."

Chris picked up a large fluffy cube Josh used to play with. "Do you hate me?"

"No. Do you?"

"Yes, I hate me sometimes."

Kat turned around again. "I mean do you hate me?"

The young man shook his head. "No. I don't hate you. I never hated you. I guess the problem was that I hated myself. I just let it out on you."

"I let everything out on you as well. That's probably the only thing we did like a normal couple."

Chris tossed the cube at her. "What did we do wrong?"

"We weren't meant for each other maybe."

"I don't believe people are made for each other or not. At some point you get used to one another at least."

"But we didn't love each other, right?"

"You said you did. At least for a while."

"Do you know when I fell in love with you?" she asked smiling.

"When?"

"Do you remember the night Josh was born?"

"No, Kat, I totally forgot that night."

She didn't react to this but said. "When they didn't allow me to go and see him and I was pretty pissed."

"You were allowed to see him, just not to walk."

"Right. I wasn't allowed to walk or sit in a wheelchair."

"They wanted you to rest."

"Whose side are you on? Anyway, I wasn't allowed to get to him and he wasn't allowed to be brought to me. So, do you remember what you did?"

"I do."

"You carried me through the hallway."

"Yeah, well that was the only option left. Totally rational."

"Totally romantic."

"I just thought you deserved to see your son."

"Hush."

"I just didn't want you to be sad or worried or kill the nurse."

"Whatever you motives were, I will never forget it because it was the first and last time anyone thought of a way to stop me being hurt. Afterwards I was sure that nothing could stop us. That we could face this and make something good out of it."

The brunette walked in front of her. "I did love you. Somehow. Like a friend."

"That's more than I thought. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because telling you would have meant making me vulnerable to you. People you love can hurt you, Kat. And I wouldn't let you hurt me."

"But maybe that's part of it."

Chris shrugged. "Obviously. But I think that's a personal thing with me. I am pretty good in hurting people. You, Wyatt, even Rachel, Josh and my parents. And Amy."

"Who's Amy? Your girlfriend ?"

"I don't know. I ran off when she said she loved me. I tried to get her back and failed. She gave me another chance and I messed up and right now, we're trying to start fresh."

"That sounds pretty complicated. But a fresh start is good. I think it's good. All you have to do now is to not mess up again."

"You know how bad I am with that."

"Stop making yourself smaller than you are. I hate it when you do that. You are a good person. You always have been a good person. Believe it or not, but the last 4 years had been the best in my life. I got a family. Josh is the most precious thing I ever did. It's just so sad that I can't see him grow up. But I guess you do pretty well. I'm not sure if I was in your situation if I could do so well."

"You obviously don't know what happened the last months."

"I don't care what happened. You told me Josh was alright, you told me you were alright and that is all that matters."

"I could lie to you."

"I know you don't. You don't have a reason anyway."

"God, we were so stupid. I was so stupid. I could have had something great but ruined it. I even almost ruined my second. And now, I'm stuck here."

"There's got to be a way for you to get back. My son won't grow up as an orphan."


"There is no way," Phoebe said. "He is dead, Piper."

"You were dead too, and now there you are."

"Yes, but you traveled to the past," Paige reminded her sister.

"Then let's do it again. Get Coop's ring."

"Piper…" Phoebe rubbed her sister's back. "Piper, we can't get everyone back."

"What are you saying that I have to lose my son? That we just found each other again, that we finally are making up a new relationship again and now I won't see him ever again?"

"I'm so sorry."

"No," the oldest Charmed One said. "No. I don't accept that. I can't. He went through so much and now when he gets back on the road again, he dies. That is not right. That is not fair."

"No one said it was fair," Paige replied. "And if you haven't noticed, we lost him too and it hurts but there is nothing we can do."

"What about Josh, huh? Do you want to tell him that his daddy had to leave him again although this time it is forever? And who will be looking after him?"

Wyatt had stopped talking to his aunts and mother. What were they fighting about anyway? "It's all my fault," he said.

"No, sweetie, it's not," Phoebe replied. "You did nothing wrong."

"I made him go with me with my stupid remarks. He didn't want to go and he shouldn't have to. I was there. You would think I could vanquish some lousy demon after all I am the twice blessed. And what does it do for me? I can't even save my brother."

"Wyatt, honey, Chris would never run from a fight. I'm sure he would have gone with you anyway."

"But I blasted this place. I should have known that this thing was some kind of defense for the demon. Why the hell did I aimed at the thing?"

"Wyatt, it doesn't help anyone if you blame yourself."

"Nothing won't help," the blonde man said.


Kat wandered around the apartment. "I liked this place a lot. It was great to live here."

"I thought you liked the 'loft' more?"

"Not more. It was different. It was stylish. It was…"

"Not home."

"It was for me."

"You barely spent time there. You were away half the time."

"I know. But every time I came back I felt at home because you were there. You and Josh. I knew you'd always be waiting for me."

"Because I had no life of my own."

"Do you need to see everything negative?" she asked. "We had a rather good life. Considering the circumstances, we did good. We didn't do fantastic, but it was good." She sighed. "Although, I have to admit, separated we'd had a better life."

"Finally, we are of one opinion."

Kat stood close to him. "Was it really that bad for you? Did you hate it so much?"

"No. But I like more what is going to happen now. I bought a house."

"Really? The house of your dreams?"

"Maybe when we rebuild it."

"I see. But that is what you wanted. How can you pay for it though?"

"I'm going to publish a few books."

She frowned. "A few books?"

"Children's books. You know, stories with the characters I made up for Josh."

"Actually, I don't know."

"Oh. It's exciting."

"I can see that."

"I never thought I could do something like that but everyone tells me I'm pretty good and maybe I can do it for the rest of my life. I already know where to place my office in the house."

"I hope my name helps the PR. Go to Derek or someone and have them interview you or something."

"That's a good idea. Maybe read a few pages in the radio, too."

"Yes, that is great. I'm sure you will have some ideas."

"I have a character named after you. J.C. doesn't have a mom yet."

"I'm honored."

Chris found himself really enjoying talking to the young woman in front of him. He couldn't remember when they last talked like that. Like friends. "It still seems so unreal. It was such a spontaneous thing, it's so exciting."

Kat smiled one of her genuine smiles. She really meant it. "I'm so glad you feel that way. You will be amazing. I know it. You'll make the world recognize you, just like it's supposed to be."

"You exaggerate again."

"No, I don't. Chris, all you have to do is give your best. You can do it. As soon as you get out of here, that is."

Chris nodded. "What if there is no way?"


"Nothing will change if we just yell at one another," Phoebe said trying to calm everyone down. She sighed. "We'll try Coop's ring."

"But Pheebs…" Paige started but seeing the glint of hope in her oldest sister's red eyes made her stop.

Phoebe closed her eyes thinking about her husband making him heart in next to her.

"Grandma, what are you doing?" Piper turned to the small voice coming from the door. Josh stood there in his pajamas with the blue cars on it, Willy in one arm. He looked at his grandma with large eyes. He wondered why the many people were there.

"Oh, sweetie, why did you get up?" Piper tried her best to sound calmly and casually. "Grandma brings you back to bed, okay?"

Josh saw his uncle sitting on the sofa where his daddy lay. "Is something wrong with my daddy?" he asked tears already welling up in his eyes.

"Oh no, we are all here to make your daddy alright again, okay? Now, grandma brings you back to bed and tomorrow everything will be alright again."

"No." Josh ran around his grandmother. "'I stay with my daddy." He touched his father's hand. "Daddy? Do you wake up?"


"Can't you just walk through the door?" Kat asked.

"You've got to be kidding."

"At least I have an idea and am not just complaining."

"But you are dead already, I'm stuck in limbo."

"Okay, okay." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Chris."

"Daddy? Do you wake up?" Chris frowned and looked around. "Josh? Did you hear that?" he asked his wife.

"What? I heard nothing."

"I thought I heard Josh."

"Chris, speaking of Josh, can you make sure he knows who I am. That he knows who I really am and not just the version of me in front of the camera. I know he won't remember me but I need him to have at least an image of his mom."

"Of course I will. I promise you. He will know who you are. I swear." Chris put a hand to his head. "Daddy! Daddy, wake up. Please."

"What's wrong?" Kat asked. "What's happening to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're becoming transparent."

Chris looked at his hands. "I don't know."

"Daddy! Daddy! Don't leave me!"

"It's Josh. He's calling me."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go." Kat said. "Hurry."

Chris touched her face. "We will miss you. I will miss you. I wish I could take you with me. I really do."

The woman smiled. "I know. We all have to take the destiny that was meant for us. And you were not meant to die now."

Chris hugged her. "And you had no reason to."


Coop had picked up his little nephew getting him away from his dead father. Josh was crying heavily into his shoulder and made it difficult for everyone else to feel anything but sadness.

Josh was already exhausting himself and his crying turned into hiccupping breaths. "Daddy?" he whispered.

Wyatt was so angry at his brother for bringing him into this situation. He looked at Chris' pale face when he suddenly opened his eyes and jerked awake.

"Oh God, you're back," Wyatt exclaimed drawing everyone's attention at him. "How did you come back?" He took his brother into a tight embrace. "Actually, I don't care."

"Wyatt, give him some room," Phoebe said through a mixture of tears and laughter.

Josh wrinkled out of the tall cupid's hold and ran to his father. He was so glad his daddy was back again. He'd been really angry at his uncle this time.

"But seriously, how did you come back? I mean, you were dead," Paige said.

Chris only shrugged. "I don't know." He saw Josh running towards him in his favorite pajamas with red cried eyes. He picked him up and sat him on his lap.

"Daddy, did you hear me calling?"

Chris nodded. "Yes, I did indeed. I think that is why I am back."

I hope you didn't get confused with the changing scence and everything. Tell me you liked it or didn't, whatever. And what do you think, no more drama for Chris would be alright now, wouldn't it?