CHARMED
"Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth"
(This is a sequel to "A New Beginning".)
(This story is an AU story.)
by J. B. Tilton
email: aramath@isot.com
Rating: PG-13 (for mild language)
Disclaimer: "Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.
* * *
(Author's note: This story was actually written before the episode "The Legend Of The Sleepy Halliwell" aired where we learned Chris' true identity.)
* * *
When a powerful demon attacks, Chris is forced to finally tell Leo and the Charmed Ones the whole truth behind why he came back from the future.
* * *
PRELUDE
A vortex opened in the deserted alley, whipping the debris around from the mystical energy it created. Small bolts of lightning shot out from the vortex, striking nearby buildings. After a few moments, a man stepped out of the vortex.
He stood about six feet tall and had medium brown hair that looked more like a mane than hair. Muscles bulged under his clothes as he looked around the alley, his blue eyes taking in everything around him. After a moment he raised his hand and the vortex behind him closed leaving no trace it had ever existed.
The man closed his eyes and concentrated for several moments. An evil smile crossed his lips. His power would prevent those accursed Elders from detecting him or his arrival here. It just wouldn't do to have them interfere with him. Not when he had come all this way. Not when what he had to do was so important.
Suddenly the man changed. He no longer resembled his former self. He stood only about five feet, eight inches now. And his brown hair was now blonde, trimmed neatly over the ears. His features and clothes had even changed. To all outward appearances, he was a totally different person.
But only outwardly. His ability to alter his form was only an illusion. While he may not look the same the power that coursed through him had not changed. And that power would allow him to mask his true identity from anyone who might try to stop him.
He stepped to the end of the alley and looked up and down the street. People were busily hurrying about their business. No one noticed a lone man wearing a suit and tie standing in the middle of the street. His decision to appear in the alley instead of the manor had been a calculated decision. In this way, he could gain access to the manor and his victim unhindered.
Confidently, the man turned and began to walk up the street. A part of him was sorry for what he was about to do. But it could not be helped. He had planned for too long to let anyone stand in his way. No matter who that person was. In the end, what he was going to do was for the best. Even if few understood it as he did.
ONE
"Paige," said Piper, coming down the stairs with her son in her arms, "I need to run to the store for a minute. Can you look after Wyatt while I'm gone? I shouldn't be very long."
"Sure," said Paige, coming into entryway. She took the baby from Piper. "I don't have to work today so I'd be glad to play babysitter for a while. I don't get to spend enough time with my nephew as it is, anyway."
"Great," said Piper. "Now, his bottle is in the 'fridge if he gets hungry. And for heavens sake, keep an eye on him if you let him watch television. We don't want a repeat of that little dragon incident."
"Just go on," said Paige, smiling, "we'll be fine."
"Anything I can get you while I'm out?" Piper asked.
"No, not right now," said Paige. "I'm fine."
"Okay," said Piper. "I should be back in less than an hour. You two have fun."
"We will," said Paige, carrying young Wyatt into the living room to his playpen.
Piper hadn't been gone long when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find a young man on the front porch. The man was dressed in a suit and tie and carried a clipboard in one hand. His short blonde hair was trimmed neatly over his ears. He smiled as Paige opened the door.
"Hello," said the man, extending his hand, "my name is Randy Myers. I'm with the Young Republicans and we're doing a survey about the upcoming elections. Would you be willing to answer just a few questions for me? It will only take a few minutes."
"Well," said Paige, glancing back to make sure Wyatt was okay, "sure, if you're quick."
"Only a moment or two," said Myers, glancing in the house. "What an adorable little boy. Is he yours?"
"No, he's my nephew," said Paige. "I'm babysitting for him right now."
"I see," said Myers. "Home all alone then?"
"What about those questions?" Paige asked, her patience beginning to wear thin. "I don't have a lot of time."
"Neither do I," said Myers.
He raised his hand and Paige simply froze in the doorway. Myers raised his hand again and she was pushed back into the entryway. Smiling, Myers walked into the manor and closed the door behind him. He walked into the living room and stood looking down into the playpen.
Wyatt looked up at this stranger and immediately activated his force field. It was becoming nearly a habit with the young baby. Strangers usually meant danger and his force field was really the only protection he could effectively control. Myers smiled and passed his hand over the playpen and the force field simply vanished.
"You don't have need of that," he said, looking down at Wyatt. "I am no threat to you. Something I can't say about your White Lighter. I have no doubt he'd kill you if it came to that. Although I'm sure he'll try everything he can think of before that. He always was a bit too concerned with others for his own good."
Myers walked around the living room looking at everything. He picked up the wedding photo of Piper and Leo and looked at it.
"You had such high hopes the two of you," he said to no one in particular. "What a shame things had to end as they did."
As he was looking around her heard the front door open. Piper opened the door and walked into the entryway, a bag in her hands.
"It didn't take me as long as I thought," she was saying as she came in the manor. "I got everything I needed and .... "
She stopped in mid-sentence, seeing Paige standing in the entryway frozen.
"Paige?" Piper questioned.
Paige didn't move.
"Paige?" Piper questioned again, shaking her sisters' arm.
"What the?" began Paige. "What am I doing in here? And where is that pollster at?"
"What pollster?" Piper asked.
"Some guy with the Young Republicans," said Paige. "He wanted to ask me some questions about...."
"Wyatt," said both women in unison.
Piper dropped her bag of groceries on the floor and they both rushed into the living room. Wyatt sat undisturbed in his playpen paying with his favorite teddy bear. Nothing in the room seemed out of place.
"Okay, what's going on?" Paige asked.
"When I came in," said Piper, "you were frozen in the entryway. Almost like I had used my freezing power on you."
"Well, that's just not possible," said Paige. "We both know your freezing power doesn't work on other witches."
"Not for me," said Piper. "But maybe there's a demon who has a similar power that does affect witches."
"Okay," said Paige, "so if this guy was a demon, how come I'm still alive? And why didn't he bother Wyatt?"
"I don't know," Piper said. "Maybe Wyatt's force field protected him."
"That still doesn't explain why he didn't kill me," said Paige. "If he was a demon, why freeze me and then do nothing?"
"We need some answers," Piper said. "You orb out and get Phoebe. Then check the Book of Shadows and see if you can find this pollster in there. I'm going to try and contact Chris or Leo and see if they can tell us anything."
Paige didn't respond. Instead, she immediately orbed out to Hong Kong to get Phoebe. Piper picked Wyatt up out of the playpen, and then called for both Chris and Leo. Despite the supposed law against demons trying to get Wyatt, it appeared that someone was trying to do just that.
* * *
"You have no idea who this guy was?" Leo asked.
"None at all," said Paige. "He said he was taking a poll. Asking some questions about the upcoming elections. One minute I'm standing in the doorway answering questions, the next thing I know I'm in the middle of the entryway with Piper in front of me."
"It was like I had frozen her," said Piper.
"That's not possible," said Leo.
"I know that," said Piper. "My freezing power doesn't work on witches. So what happened?"
"Maybe there's a demon with a similar type of power," offered Phoebe.
"Didn't find anything like that in the Book of Shadows," said Paige. "In fact, the only demon in there that had anything remotely to do with time was one called Tempus. Maybe it was this Tempus."
"Not likely," said Piper. "He was vanquished when Prue died. It couldn't be him."
"Maybe it's the demon that's after Wyatt," said Chris.
"Then why didn't he hurt Wyatt?" asked Piper. "Or at the very least take him? Wyatt doesn't seem injured at all."
"I don't know," said Chris. "Maybe you came home early and startled him."
"That still doesn't explain why Paige is still alive," said Phoebe. "Even if this demon was after Wyatt, why pass up the chance to kill one of us? Besides, didn't the Crone say they were passing a law to prohibit the demons from coming after Wyatt?"
"Not all demons follow the demonic laws," said Chris. "There are some that live on the fringes that pretty much do as they please. Just as there are some humans who don't care about the law."
"Well, I don't know of any demon capable of doing what Paige described," said Leo. "And just about any demon would take advantage of the opportunity to kill one of he girls."
"Maybe it was a warlock," suggested Phoebe. "Only that doesn't make much sense either. Why just freeze Paige? Why not kill her and steal her powers?"
"I'm going to check with the rest of the Elders," said Leo. "There's something we're missing."
"I'll go with you," said Chris. "I can check with some of the other White Lighters. They may know something they haven't told the Elders."
"No," said Leo. "You need to stay here and protect your charges. That's your first responsibility as a White Lighter. I shouldn't be gone long. In the mean time, don't let anyone into the manor. I don't care who it is. Until we can figure out who or what this is and what they're after you can't trust anyone."
"Don't worry," said Piper. "If someone is after my baby they'll have to go through me first."
"All three of us," said Phoebe. "They'll get to Wyatt only over our dead bodies."
As Leo orbed out of the manor he caught the look on Chris' face. A look that told him that the younger White Lighter wasn't surprised at this turn of events. Even considering that they knew a demon was after Wyatt, this struck Leo as odd. It wouldn't be the first time Chris hadn't told them the entire truth. And even though Chris had proven that he was trying to protect Wyatt, Leo couldn't help but wonder just what it was he hadn't told them.
"So," said Piper, turning to Chris, "what can you tell us about this demon that's after Wyatt?"
"Not a whole lot," said Chris. "We never did learn exactly which demon it was. We were able to narrow it down to some specific types of demons but that was about all. Even considering that, it's no guarantee that was the demon originally after Wyatt. It could have been hired by another demon to get to him. Some of the ones we narrowed it down to were bounty hunter demons."
"What about the Brotherhood of the Thorn?" Phoebe asked. "Could it be one of them trying to take revenge for us vanquishing Cole? He was a member of that group. Maybe this is their way of punishing us for what we did."
"That's unlikely," said Chris. "All demons know the risk when they go up against the three of you. It's not likely they'd want revenge if you won. One of the hazards of the trade, so to speak."
"But it's not totally out of the question," said Paige.
"No, not totally," said Chris. "Demons have been known to seek revenge for the vanquishing of a relative. But the Brotherhood of the Thorn doesn't usually work that way. They're mercenaries, plain and simple. Vanquishings are what you might call a hazard of their profession. They understand that."
"Okay, so if it isn't revenge this demon wants," said Piper, "just why is a demon going after my son? Especially since there's supposed to be a law against it."
"Maybe it wasn't Wyatt the demon was after," said Chris. "Maybe it was something else. It couldn't get to the Book of Shadows. Evil can't even touch it. What about the Nexus? You said that demons have gone after it before."
"Even Cole tried once," said Phoebe. "But to get to the Nexus, they'd have to get rid of us. Which brings us right back to where we started. Paige still alive and Wyatt apparently unharmed. And no answer for why."
"We'll have to wait until Leo gets back," said Piper. "In the mean time, I say we check the Book of Shadows again. There has to be something that will give us a clue to what's going on. Like Leo said, we're overlooking something. We'll just have to keep rechecking everything until we figure out what it is."
Chris looked around at the three sisters. He was debating if he should tell them what he knew. In the end, he decided he couldn't. They had already learned more than he had wanted them to. And he was pretty sure they weren't ready for the whole truth.
"Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth"
(This is a sequel to "A New Beginning".)
(This story is an AU story.)
by J. B. Tilton
email: aramath@isot.com
Rating: PG-13 (for mild language)
Disclaimer: "Charmed" and all related characters and events are the property of the WB television network, except for those characters specifically created for this story. This is a work of fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.
* * *
(Author's note: This story was actually written before the episode "The Legend Of The Sleepy Halliwell" aired where we learned Chris' true identity.)
* * *
When a powerful demon attacks, Chris is forced to finally tell Leo and the Charmed Ones the whole truth behind why he came back from the future.
* * *
PRELUDE
A vortex opened in the deserted alley, whipping the debris around from the mystical energy it created. Small bolts of lightning shot out from the vortex, striking nearby buildings. After a few moments, a man stepped out of the vortex.
He stood about six feet tall and had medium brown hair that looked more like a mane than hair. Muscles bulged under his clothes as he looked around the alley, his blue eyes taking in everything around him. After a moment he raised his hand and the vortex behind him closed leaving no trace it had ever existed.
The man closed his eyes and concentrated for several moments. An evil smile crossed his lips. His power would prevent those accursed Elders from detecting him or his arrival here. It just wouldn't do to have them interfere with him. Not when he had come all this way. Not when what he had to do was so important.
Suddenly the man changed. He no longer resembled his former self. He stood only about five feet, eight inches now. And his brown hair was now blonde, trimmed neatly over the ears. His features and clothes had even changed. To all outward appearances, he was a totally different person.
But only outwardly. His ability to alter his form was only an illusion. While he may not look the same the power that coursed through him had not changed. And that power would allow him to mask his true identity from anyone who might try to stop him.
He stepped to the end of the alley and looked up and down the street. People were busily hurrying about their business. No one noticed a lone man wearing a suit and tie standing in the middle of the street. His decision to appear in the alley instead of the manor had been a calculated decision. In this way, he could gain access to the manor and his victim unhindered.
Confidently, the man turned and began to walk up the street. A part of him was sorry for what he was about to do. But it could not be helped. He had planned for too long to let anyone stand in his way. No matter who that person was. In the end, what he was going to do was for the best. Even if few understood it as he did.
ONE
"Paige," said Piper, coming down the stairs with her son in her arms, "I need to run to the store for a minute. Can you look after Wyatt while I'm gone? I shouldn't be very long."
"Sure," said Paige, coming into entryway. She took the baby from Piper. "I don't have to work today so I'd be glad to play babysitter for a while. I don't get to spend enough time with my nephew as it is, anyway."
"Great," said Piper. "Now, his bottle is in the 'fridge if he gets hungry. And for heavens sake, keep an eye on him if you let him watch television. We don't want a repeat of that little dragon incident."
"Just go on," said Paige, smiling, "we'll be fine."
"Anything I can get you while I'm out?" Piper asked.
"No, not right now," said Paige. "I'm fine."
"Okay," said Piper. "I should be back in less than an hour. You two have fun."
"We will," said Paige, carrying young Wyatt into the living room to his playpen.
Piper hadn't been gone long when there was a knock at the door. She opened the door to find a young man on the front porch. The man was dressed in a suit and tie and carried a clipboard in one hand. His short blonde hair was trimmed neatly over his ears. He smiled as Paige opened the door.
"Hello," said the man, extending his hand, "my name is Randy Myers. I'm with the Young Republicans and we're doing a survey about the upcoming elections. Would you be willing to answer just a few questions for me? It will only take a few minutes."
"Well," said Paige, glancing back to make sure Wyatt was okay, "sure, if you're quick."
"Only a moment or two," said Myers, glancing in the house. "What an adorable little boy. Is he yours?"
"No, he's my nephew," said Paige. "I'm babysitting for him right now."
"I see," said Myers. "Home all alone then?"
"What about those questions?" Paige asked, her patience beginning to wear thin. "I don't have a lot of time."
"Neither do I," said Myers.
He raised his hand and Paige simply froze in the doorway. Myers raised his hand again and she was pushed back into the entryway. Smiling, Myers walked into the manor and closed the door behind him. He walked into the living room and stood looking down into the playpen.
Wyatt looked up at this stranger and immediately activated his force field. It was becoming nearly a habit with the young baby. Strangers usually meant danger and his force field was really the only protection he could effectively control. Myers smiled and passed his hand over the playpen and the force field simply vanished.
"You don't have need of that," he said, looking down at Wyatt. "I am no threat to you. Something I can't say about your White Lighter. I have no doubt he'd kill you if it came to that. Although I'm sure he'll try everything he can think of before that. He always was a bit too concerned with others for his own good."
Myers walked around the living room looking at everything. He picked up the wedding photo of Piper and Leo and looked at it.
"You had such high hopes the two of you," he said to no one in particular. "What a shame things had to end as they did."
As he was looking around her heard the front door open. Piper opened the door and walked into the entryway, a bag in her hands.
"It didn't take me as long as I thought," she was saying as she came in the manor. "I got everything I needed and .... "
She stopped in mid-sentence, seeing Paige standing in the entryway frozen.
"Paige?" Piper questioned.
Paige didn't move.
"Paige?" Piper questioned again, shaking her sisters' arm.
"What the?" began Paige. "What am I doing in here? And where is that pollster at?"
"What pollster?" Piper asked.
"Some guy with the Young Republicans," said Paige. "He wanted to ask me some questions about...."
"Wyatt," said both women in unison.
Piper dropped her bag of groceries on the floor and they both rushed into the living room. Wyatt sat undisturbed in his playpen paying with his favorite teddy bear. Nothing in the room seemed out of place.
"Okay, what's going on?" Paige asked.
"When I came in," said Piper, "you were frozen in the entryway. Almost like I had used my freezing power on you."
"Well, that's just not possible," said Paige. "We both know your freezing power doesn't work on other witches."
"Not for me," said Piper. "But maybe there's a demon who has a similar power that does affect witches."
"Okay," said Paige, "so if this guy was a demon, how come I'm still alive? And why didn't he bother Wyatt?"
"I don't know," Piper said. "Maybe Wyatt's force field protected him."
"That still doesn't explain why he didn't kill me," said Paige. "If he was a demon, why freeze me and then do nothing?"
"We need some answers," Piper said. "You orb out and get Phoebe. Then check the Book of Shadows and see if you can find this pollster in there. I'm going to try and contact Chris or Leo and see if they can tell us anything."
Paige didn't respond. Instead, she immediately orbed out to Hong Kong to get Phoebe. Piper picked Wyatt up out of the playpen, and then called for both Chris and Leo. Despite the supposed law against demons trying to get Wyatt, it appeared that someone was trying to do just that.
* * *
"You have no idea who this guy was?" Leo asked.
"None at all," said Paige. "He said he was taking a poll. Asking some questions about the upcoming elections. One minute I'm standing in the doorway answering questions, the next thing I know I'm in the middle of the entryway with Piper in front of me."
"It was like I had frozen her," said Piper.
"That's not possible," said Leo.
"I know that," said Piper. "My freezing power doesn't work on witches. So what happened?"
"Maybe there's a demon with a similar type of power," offered Phoebe.
"Didn't find anything like that in the Book of Shadows," said Paige. "In fact, the only demon in there that had anything remotely to do with time was one called Tempus. Maybe it was this Tempus."
"Not likely," said Piper. "He was vanquished when Prue died. It couldn't be him."
"Maybe it's the demon that's after Wyatt," said Chris.
"Then why didn't he hurt Wyatt?" asked Piper. "Or at the very least take him? Wyatt doesn't seem injured at all."
"I don't know," said Chris. "Maybe you came home early and startled him."
"That still doesn't explain why Paige is still alive," said Phoebe. "Even if this demon was after Wyatt, why pass up the chance to kill one of us? Besides, didn't the Crone say they were passing a law to prohibit the demons from coming after Wyatt?"
"Not all demons follow the demonic laws," said Chris. "There are some that live on the fringes that pretty much do as they please. Just as there are some humans who don't care about the law."
"Well, I don't know of any demon capable of doing what Paige described," said Leo. "And just about any demon would take advantage of the opportunity to kill one of he girls."
"Maybe it was a warlock," suggested Phoebe. "Only that doesn't make much sense either. Why just freeze Paige? Why not kill her and steal her powers?"
"I'm going to check with the rest of the Elders," said Leo. "There's something we're missing."
"I'll go with you," said Chris. "I can check with some of the other White Lighters. They may know something they haven't told the Elders."
"No," said Leo. "You need to stay here and protect your charges. That's your first responsibility as a White Lighter. I shouldn't be gone long. In the mean time, don't let anyone into the manor. I don't care who it is. Until we can figure out who or what this is and what they're after you can't trust anyone."
"Don't worry," said Piper. "If someone is after my baby they'll have to go through me first."
"All three of us," said Phoebe. "They'll get to Wyatt only over our dead bodies."
As Leo orbed out of the manor he caught the look on Chris' face. A look that told him that the younger White Lighter wasn't surprised at this turn of events. Even considering that they knew a demon was after Wyatt, this struck Leo as odd. It wouldn't be the first time Chris hadn't told them the entire truth. And even though Chris had proven that he was trying to protect Wyatt, Leo couldn't help but wonder just what it was he hadn't told them.
"So," said Piper, turning to Chris, "what can you tell us about this demon that's after Wyatt?"
"Not a whole lot," said Chris. "We never did learn exactly which demon it was. We were able to narrow it down to some specific types of demons but that was about all. Even considering that, it's no guarantee that was the demon originally after Wyatt. It could have been hired by another demon to get to him. Some of the ones we narrowed it down to were bounty hunter demons."
"What about the Brotherhood of the Thorn?" Phoebe asked. "Could it be one of them trying to take revenge for us vanquishing Cole? He was a member of that group. Maybe this is their way of punishing us for what we did."
"That's unlikely," said Chris. "All demons know the risk when they go up against the three of you. It's not likely they'd want revenge if you won. One of the hazards of the trade, so to speak."
"But it's not totally out of the question," said Paige.
"No, not totally," said Chris. "Demons have been known to seek revenge for the vanquishing of a relative. But the Brotherhood of the Thorn doesn't usually work that way. They're mercenaries, plain and simple. Vanquishings are what you might call a hazard of their profession. They understand that."
"Okay, so if it isn't revenge this demon wants," said Piper, "just why is a demon going after my son? Especially since there's supposed to be a law against it."
"Maybe it wasn't Wyatt the demon was after," said Chris. "Maybe it was something else. It couldn't get to the Book of Shadows. Evil can't even touch it. What about the Nexus? You said that demons have gone after it before."
"Even Cole tried once," said Phoebe. "But to get to the Nexus, they'd have to get rid of us. Which brings us right back to where we started. Paige still alive and Wyatt apparently unharmed. And no answer for why."
"We'll have to wait until Leo gets back," said Piper. "In the mean time, I say we check the Book of Shadows again. There has to be something that will give us a clue to what's going on. Like Leo said, we're overlooking something. We'll just have to keep rechecking everything until we figure out what it is."
Chris looked around at the three sisters. He was debating if he should tell them what he knew. In the end, he decided he couldn't. They had already learned more than he had wanted them to. And he was pretty sure they weren't ready for the whole truth.
