FIVE
"My son?" questioned Leo. "Chris, I think you'd better start at the
beginning."
"Okay," said Chris. "Well, I'm actually from the future. About twenty
years. In my timeline or reality or whatever it is, you and Piper are married.
You have a son you named Wyatt. In the future, where I'm from, Wyatt has turned
evil. He's vanquished anyone who was a threat to him and the world has
basically gone to hell. I came back to change that."
"You can't change the past," said Tiffany. "As a White Lighter you should
know that."
"I know I can't," said Chris. "But people can change their future. So
I've been trying to get the girls to change their future so my past will
change."
"That doesn't make any sense," said Tiffany.
"Actually, he's right," said Leo. "I know it sounds contradictory, but it
is possible. He can't change his past. But people can change their future
depending on the choices they make. If he can get them to change their future,
his past will change even though he can't change it."
"This is getting confusing," said Tiffany.
"Just try not to think about it too much, honey," said Leo. "It's really
complicated and some people never quite grasp it."
"Honey?" questioned Chris. "Are you two...? "
"Involved?" asked Tiffany. "You might say that. Only don't say anything
to anyone. You know how the Elders are about a White Lighter and his charge
getting involved."
"Which is another reason this doesn't make any sense," said Leo. "There's
no way they'd allow me to become involved with one of my charges, let alone
marry one and have a baby with her."
"Well, it happened," said Chris. "It's a long story, but the girls helped
stop a Dark Lighter from decimating the White Lighters and the Elders allowed
the two of you to get married sort of as a reward."
"That's hard to believe," said Leo.
"Trust me it happened," said Chris. "Except now, that's all changed.
None of what I remember has happened."
"Chris," said Tiffany, "you said Prue died fighting the Source. Was that
when they vanquished him?"
"No, that was a few months earlier," said Chris.
"Then how did they vanquish the Source?" asked Leo. "No one has the power
to go up against him. That's why there was so much hope put in the Charmed
Ones. Without them, there's no hope of defeating the Source."
"The Power of Three was reconstituted after Prue died," said Chris.
"There's a fourth sister that no one knew about. Her name is Paige Matthews and
Patty Halliwell was her mother."
"And her father?" questioned Tiffany.
"Sam," said Chris.
"Sam?" questioned Leo. "Patty's White Lighter?"
"Yes," said Chris. "After Victor Bennett and Patty Halliwell broke up,
she and Sam became involved. Paige was born some time later. To protect her
and keep the Elders from finding out about her, they gave her up for adoption.
After Prue died, Piper and Phoebe learned about her and the Power of Three was
reconstituted."
"Tiffany?" asked Leo.
"He believes it," said Tiffany. "He's convinced of every word."
"You've been scanning me?" asked Chris.
"Can you blame me?" asked Tiffany. "You come in here with this fantastic
story. What are we supposed to think? For all we knew this was some form of
deception to keep us off guard while a demon attacked."
"Well, I guess I can understand that," said Chris. "But everything I've
told you is true. Somehow, everything has changed from what it should be. At
least three people are alive who should be dead. Four if you count the Source.
And everything the Charmed Ones have done over the past six years apparently has
changed as well."
"Is it possible he's under a spell of some kind?" Tiffany asked Leo.
"Maybe someone cast a spell on him to alter his memory for some reason."
"I'm not under a spell," protested Chris. "I know what I remember."
"We have to consider all possibilities," said Leo. "Frankly, that makes
more sense than everything changing like you've described. That would mean
someone went back in time and altered the past which as we all know is not
possible."
"Unless someone got another person from that time to change their future,"
offered Chris. "Just like I've been doing with the girls. Maybe someone went
back in time and somehow prevented Phoebe from finding the Book of Shadows.
That could explain everything."
"It might," said Leo. "But it's also possible that you're the one that's
been affected, not everything else. That makes more sense. Especially all that
talk about Sam and Patty and Piper and me."
"There has to be some way to find out," said Tiffany. "I could try to
cast a spell that would remove any spell Chris is under."
"And if it doesn't work," said Chris, "it won't prove a thing. It's
possible you wouldn't be able to remove a spell even if I was under one."
"He has a point," said Leo. "Assuming everything has changed, and I'm not
conceding that point, it would be a waste of time to check with the Elders, too.
They would have changed as well and there really wouldn't be any way to find
out."
"There's a simple enough way," said Tiffany. "Contact this Paige
Matthews. Find out if what Chris said about her is true."
"That's a good idea," said Chris. "Even without her witch powers, Paige
is still half White Lighter. She can orb and alter her form and some of the
other White Lighter abilities. If Paige is the way I say she is, will you
believe that things have changed then?"
Leo thought for a moment.
"On one condition," said Leo. "If we find out she's not the way you say
she is, you consider that something else if going on. Including that you may be
under a spell or something else."
"You mean I might be crazy," said Chris.
"I didn't say that," said Leo. "But if she's not half White Lighter, then
you'll have to admit that something else has happened."
"Fair enough," said Chris. "When the girls found her she was working as a
social worker at the Bay Area Social Services. She should still be there since
she quit to devote herself full time to the study of the Craft. There's no
reason to think she'd quit otherwise so she should still be working there."
"Find," said Leo. "It's getting late. I suggest we go there first thing
in the morning and check her out. In the mean time, why don't you tell us
everything you can about this alternate timeline? It might give us an idea of
what's going on."
"My son?" questioned Leo. "Chris, I think you'd better start at the
beginning."
"Okay," said Chris. "Well, I'm actually from the future. About twenty
years. In my timeline or reality or whatever it is, you and Piper are married.
You have a son you named Wyatt. In the future, where I'm from, Wyatt has turned
evil. He's vanquished anyone who was a threat to him and the world has
basically gone to hell. I came back to change that."
"You can't change the past," said Tiffany. "As a White Lighter you should
know that."
"I know I can't," said Chris. "But people can change their future. So
I've been trying to get the girls to change their future so my past will
change."
"That doesn't make any sense," said Tiffany.
"Actually, he's right," said Leo. "I know it sounds contradictory, but it
is possible. He can't change his past. But people can change their future
depending on the choices they make. If he can get them to change their future,
his past will change even though he can't change it."
"This is getting confusing," said Tiffany.
"Just try not to think about it too much, honey," said Leo. "It's really
complicated and some people never quite grasp it."
"Honey?" questioned Chris. "Are you two...? "
"Involved?" asked Tiffany. "You might say that. Only don't say anything
to anyone. You know how the Elders are about a White Lighter and his charge
getting involved."
"Which is another reason this doesn't make any sense," said Leo. "There's
no way they'd allow me to become involved with one of my charges, let alone
marry one and have a baby with her."
"Well, it happened," said Chris. "It's a long story, but the girls helped
stop a Dark Lighter from decimating the White Lighters and the Elders allowed
the two of you to get married sort of as a reward."
"That's hard to believe," said Leo.
"Trust me it happened," said Chris. "Except now, that's all changed.
None of what I remember has happened."
"Chris," said Tiffany, "you said Prue died fighting the Source. Was that
when they vanquished him?"
"No, that was a few months earlier," said Chris.
"Then how did they vanquish the Source?" asked Leo. "No one has the power
to go up against him. That's why there was so much hope put in the Charmed
Ones. Without them, there's no hope of defeating the Source."
"The Power of Three was reconstituted after Prue died," said Chris.
"There's a fourth sister that no one knew about. Her name is Paige Matthews and
Patty Halliwell was her mother."
"And her father?" questioned Tiffany.
"Sam," said Chris.
"Sam?" questioned Leo. "Patty's White Lighter?"
"Yes," said Chris. "After Victor Bennett and Patty Halliwell broke up,
she and Sam became involved. Paige was born some time later. To protect her
and keep the Elders from finding out about her, they gave her up for adoption.
After Prue died, Piper and Phoebe learned about her and the Power of Three was
reconstituted."
"Tiffany?" asked Leo.
"He believes it," said Tiffany. "He's convinced of every word."
"You've been scanning me?" asked Chris.
"Can you blame me?" asked Tiffany. "You come in here with this fantastic
story. What are we supposed to think? For all we knew this was some form of
deception to keep us off guard while a demon attacked."
"Well, I guess I can understand that," said Chris. "But everything I've
told you is true. Somehow, everything has changed from what it should be. At
least three people are alive who should be dead. Four if you count the Source.
And everything the Charmed Ones have done over the past six years apparently has
changed as well."
"Is it possible he's under a spell of some kind?" Tiffany asked Leo.
"Maybe someone cast a spell on him to alter his memory for some reason."
"I'm not under a spell," protested Chris. "I know what I remember."
"We have to consider all possibilities," said Leo. "Frankly, that makes
more sense than everything changing like you've described. That would mean
someone went back in time and altered the past which as we all know is not
possible."
"Unless someone got another person from that time to change their future,"
offered Chris. "Just like I've been doing with the girls. Maybe someone went
back in time and somehow prevented Phoebe from finding the Book of Shadows.
That could explain everything."
"It might," said Leo. "But it's also possible that you're the one that's
been affected, not everything else. That makes more sense. Especially all that
talk about Sam and Patty and Piper and me."
"There has to be some way to find out," said Tiffany. "I could try to
cast a spell that would remove any spell Chris is under."
"And if it doesn't work," said Chris, "it won't prove a thing. It's
possible you wouldn't be able to remove a spell even if I was under one."
"He has a point," said Leo. "Assuming everything has changed, and I'm not
conceding that point, it would be a waste of time to check with the Elders, too.
They would have changed as well and there really wouldn't be any way to find
out."
"There's a simple enough way," said Tiffany. "Contact this Paige
Matthews. Find out if what Chris said about her is true."
"That's a good idea," said Chris. "Even without her witch powers, Paige
is still half White Lighter. She can orb and alter her form and some of the
other White Lighter abilities. If Paige is the way I say she is, will you
believe that things have changed then?"
Leo thought for a moment.
"On one condition," said Leo. "If we find out she's not the way you say
she is, you consider that something else if going on. Including that you may be
under a spell or something else."
"You mean I might be crazy," said Chris.
"I didn't say that," said Leo. "But if she's not half White Lighter, then
you'll have to admit that something else has happened."
"Fair enough," said Chris. "When the girls found her she was working as a
social worker at the Bay Area Social Services. She should still be there since
she quit to devote herself full time to the study of the Craft. There's no
reason to think she'd quit otherwise so she should still be working there."
"Find," said Leo. "It's getting late. I suggest we go there first thing
in the morning and check her out. In the mean time, why don't you tell us
everything you can about this alternate timeline? It might give us an idea of
what's going on."