This story begins with a scene from the episode "Chris-Crossed" and then back-tracks to follow Chris through his childhood up until the moment he travels back in time. Each chapter is an episode in Chris's life. Some of them are cued from scenes in the television show and some from my imagination. The story is based on facts up until the episode "Hyde School Reunion."
None of this story could have been written without the help of the website www.thecharmedones.com
Thank you for all the wonderful reviews that I've received. I truly appreciate each and every one of them. There is one more part after this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed. This story is a product of my imagination. Some of the scenes have been taken from the script and modified. When this occurs, the episode and writer of the original scene is cited.
Note: Part of this chapter was taken from the episode "Chris-Crossed" written by Cameron Litvack.
Part Eight
"If anybody should be protecting themselves, it should be me from you…"-Chris
-Season Six, Episode 112, "Valhalley of the Dolls"
"Chris, what are you doing here? You know he'll find us. He always finds us…" Bianca trailed off. Chris held up a hand and Bianca sat down on the bench next to him. The arboretum they were sitting in was ragged and unkempt. Even though Wyatt had staged his takeover almost two years ago, little things like nature were still suffering the full-blown effect. Things had just about gone back to normal—as normal as they could be with magic practiced openly and Wyatt practically declaring himself leader of the world.
But that hadn't stopped other things from happening. Nothing could stop normal life processes completely.
"Don't worry, we'll be safe here," he whispered, looking around the barren trees for any sign of probes, the latest device that Wyatt was using to spy on his enemies as well as followers. Bianca pressed herself up against the white post that had once supported a roof and looked around. Nothing came.
"Are you sure?" she replied. "I mean, Chris, you might be the son of an Elder and a Charmed One, but you still suck at fighting… I don't really think that I'd trust you with my care." She folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "I don't know what you did, Chris, but whenever I'm around you, my guard comes down. It's not safe to be out in the open, I can't protect myself as well as I used to. Wyatt's suspecting something now. I'm sure he'll be onto us any day now…" she trailed off, her eyes glassing over as she looked into the bleak and desolate distance. Chris took this opportunity to sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her. He kissed her neck and Bianca giggled and turned in his embrace.
"See? My guard's down again. I'd of stopped you from a mile away…" she trailed off again as Chris kissed her a second time. Bianca stopped protesting and returned the kiss and the two of them sat down on the cracked white bench that was next to the pool Bianca had been leaning against.
"You never would have pulled this off when I met you," she whispered. Chris grinned to himself kissed her again. She was right about that. There was no doubt about it. He quickly pulled away; causing Bianca took stare at him, her eyes slightly confused. Chris reached into his back pocket and pulled something out of it. He took Bianca's hand in his own and slipped a ring onto her finger.
"Will you marry me?" he asked, his voice growing hoarse. Bianca pulled her hand away and looked at the ring. It had been his mother's and one of the only things that Wyatt had permitted him to keep. Wyatt had always joked that he would never have had anybody to present it to. Sometimes even Wyatt was wrong.
"Now? You're asking me now? Here?" Chris sensed her confusion and pulled back, slightly ashamed of himself. He hadn't meant to put her in the spotlight. One wrong move and she'd go spiraling back to where she had been when he had met her. She'd become cold again, rock-like and impenetrable.
"This is still our spot, Bianca, no matter what he's done to it. Marry me," he asked again. Bianca looked at the wreckage of the arboretum and the ruins of the building that had once stood behind them. This had been the spot where Wyatt had first become suspicious of their affair. His two most important followers had disobeyed his primary rule, right in front of the area the family had dedicated to their mother. Wyatt had never been back since her death, and discovering Chris and Bianca there had caused him to go into a fit of rage, destroying everything that had created the memorial.
"On one condition—" Bianca paused and looked Chris in the eyes. "—that you'll come back to me, safely." Her voice trembled at the last few words. Wyatt had managed to put fear into so many people. Carelessness and love had been a casualty of his reign.
"Have I ever let you down before?" Chris asked. Bianca looked up at him and smiled, her lips catching his. All of a sudden, something appeared on the horizon. Chris quickly broke away and strained to hear if something was coming.
"What was that?" Bianca whispered, her eyes suddenly alert. She started to stand up, but quickly sat back down. A probe appeared and caught her in its yellow lighted scan. "Chris, help me!" She cried, her body frozen. Chris angrily waved his hand and the probe went flying into the pillar. He looked down at Bianca, who had a rare trace of fear across her face.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I don't think it had time to transmit," she whispered, her voice shaky. Chris stood up and looked around at the commemoration of Wyatt's anger. The one place that he had love and had always been able to call his own had been destroyed by his brother. He had just come incredibly close to losing something else that meant a lot to him. He curled his hand up into a fist and let out an angry sigh.
"I can't believe he's sending probes after us now! I'm going to kill that son of a bitch," he spat out. Everything that he ever worked for and everything that he cared about was always ruined by Wyatt. His brother couldn't ever let him have one moment, couldn't let him have even a second to himself or to his own thoughts. He had to be controlled.
It had been this way during all of his childhood. All the toys that Wyatt had broken, all of the 'accidents' that had been blamed on him, they all had some sort of root in his brother. Chris had spent his entire childhood looking over his shoulder and making sure that he didn't piss his brother off. He wanted that to end. He needed it to end.
He felt Bianca place her hand on his shoulder. This was the one thing that he had in defiance of his brother. Wyatt had never dreamed that any sort of romance would blossom between the two or he never would have brought Bianca to the manor on that day that somebody had killed their father. It was his one victory. His one triumph over the one who wanted to control all.
"No you're not. You're going to stick to the plan," Bianca whispered. He felt her slide her hand down his arm and intertwine her fingers in his own. His victory.
"But he knows…" Chris started, but Bianca cut him off.
"If he knew, he wouldn't have sent the probe. You have to go back, Chris, it's the only way to stop him. It's the only way to change all this." She used her free hand to beckon to the ruins around them. Chris looked at the broken angel behind him and felt a tear well up in his eye. He needed to do this. He needed to fix things for the good of them all. And there was no other good way to do it. No other way but to send him away, away from Bianca and his world, and spiraling into another one. A world where he'd have to live a lie, experience his parent's early life and marriage, and to see his older brother as a toddler. There was no way he was going to be able to do it without changing all that was around him. It was possible he would come back to a world without Bianca.
But there was no other way. She was right. This was the only way to save their future.
"Come on, we have to get to the manor when it opens," Bianca said. She pulled lightly on his hand and nodded with her head. Chris reluctantly started to walk away from the arboretum, but not without a glance back behind him. That was what he was going to save. His mother, his aunts, his cousin, his father, and his fiancé.