THE BEST LAID PLANS

Spoilers: Contains spoilers for It's a Bad Bad Bad Bad World (Season 6 finale).

Author's Note: Contains discussion of character's death.

Chapter 5

"Piper? What's the matter?" Leo asked as he ran into the foyer after hearing Piper scream his name. Patty followed, but stayed in the doorway so that she could see the boys. Phoebe and Paige came running in from the kitchen.

"Darryl was just here." Piper said in a deadly calm voice.

"Darryl?" asked Leo, confused. Why would Piper scream about Darryl? He'd thought it was a demon or that she'd fallen through something and gotten stuck again. Phoebe and Paige looked at each other, equally confused.

"Yes. He wanted to give me his condolences on the DEATH OF MY SON!" Piper said, each word louder than the last.

"Oh God." Leo thought, wondering what to say. He'd been dreading this moment since the baby had been born. Piper deserved to know the truth, he just hadn't known how to tell her. When she'd been in the hospital recovering from the C-Section and bonding with the baby, she'd asked about Chris, assumed that he'd gone home and that's why he wasn't there. And Leo had let her believe it. Had encouraged Phoebe and Paige to let their sister believe that her son had gone home. He'd put off telling Piper the truth, telling himself that he'd tell her the truth when she came home. Then she had come home and he'd put it off again, saying that she was still recovering from the birth and the stress of Wyatt's kidnapping. Then weeks had gone by, and it seemed that the moment to tell her had past. The more time that went on, the harder it had become to confess.

"I'm sorry, Piper" was all that Leo could say.

"You're sorry? Sorry about WHAT, Leo?" Piper asked, her voice tearing up. "Lying to me? Letting me think my son went home safely? When he was… was…"

Realizing that they need to be alone, Grams shooed Phoebe and Paige back to the kitchen and then followed Patty to the conservatory where the boys were and shut the door.

"You were so happy about the baby and saving Wyatt, I didn't know how to tell you that… that Chris died." Leo tried to explain.

"My son died?" Piper cried out, sliding down to the ground. Leo caught her and sank to the ground with her, holding her tightly. He held her tightly, rocking her and trying to comfort her.

"How… how did he… how…" Piper couldn't finish the sentence.

"He was protecting Wyatt. Gideon killed him." Leo growled, still consumed with rage at the thought of an Elder thinking that murdering a child and anyone who stood in his way, was for the greater good.

"Gideon?" Piper asked. Her brain wouldn't function. She couldn't wrap her brain around the idea that her son hadn't gone home to his bright and beautiful future. That instead he'd died trying to protect his brother.

"Yeah. You were at the hospital, so were Paige and Phoebe. I was looking for Gideon and Chris was… was watching Wyatt." The words that he'd kept bottled inside for the past two months came pouring out. "I heard him cry out for me. He was in pain. I orbed in and found him lying on the attic floor, stabbed. Even then he was more concerned about Wyatt than himself. I saw Gideon orb out with Wyatt, but I couldn't stop him. And I couldn't follow and leave Chris alone. I tried to heal him, I just… I couldn't. Gideon did something, I don't know... the wound wouldn't heal. Chris told me to leave him, to go after Gideon. I didn't want to, but… Gideon was the only one who could heal Chris. I got Paige to watch Chris while I went looking for Gideon. I couldn't find him. I came back and Darryl was here. And Chris… he told me not to give up and he… he just died."

Piper was sobbing in Leo's arms. "Where is he? I mean, where's…" Piper couldn't continue.

"He just faded away. Like he was never here." Leo said.

"Faded away? Well then maybe he went home after all." Piper asked hopefully.

"No, honey. He's gone." Leo said. "I promised him that I would send him home and instead I let him die."

"Gideon was the one responsible. Why did you have to kill him? I want to tear his heart out." Piper growled.

"I had to. Not because he kidnapped Wyatt and tried to kill him. Not because he screwed up the balance between the worlds and only an evil act would fix things. Even after all of that, I probably would have turned him over to the other Elders for punishment. No, I killed him because of what he did to Chris." Leo confessed.

"I can't believe our son is dead. I mean, he's here, little Chris is here." Piper cried. "Oh God. My baby. Is he going to meet the same fate? Is he destined to die so young? I can't bear it"

"No, Piper. That brave young man that risked everything to save his brother, to save his family is gone. His memories are gone, his experiences. The baby will grow up to look like Chris, but he won't be him. He'll be a new person, one whose father didn't leave him, whose brother wasn't evil and conquered the world, whose mother didn't die and leave him alone. He'll be a new Chris. This Chris will have the better future that the other one wanted so badly, I'll make sure of it."

Leo and Piper remained sitting on the floor, each clinging to the other for comfort.

Crying quietly, Grams opened the conservatory door and looked into the foyer at Piper and Leo huddled on the floor. She and Patty had heard most of the conversation from the conservatory. Things had been quiet for sometime. Wiping her eyes, she motioned to Patty and they picked up the boys and brought them into the foyer.

"Piper, honey. Believe me, I know what it is like to lose a child. There are no words that I can say that will help. All I can say is that I'm sorry. I didn't know Chris well, but he seemed like a brave, intelligent and dedicated young man." Grams said quietly.

Piper wanted to hold her sons tightly, but she was afraid. "Go ahead." Leo whispered encouragingly. "It will be alright."

Grams and Patty thought that Piper's hesitation had to do with her feelings about Chris's death, not knowing about Piper's developing powers. But Piper decided to take a chance. She had to hold them, to know that they were alright. She took Wyatt first, holding him close. She reached out her other hand to stroke her baby's downy hair.

They were all startled when someone knocked at the door.

"Oh God, now what?" Piper cried, unable to deal with anything else.

Leo opened the door. "Victor!"

"Leo, hi." Victor Bennett walked into the house and saw Penny and Patty. "I guess we're all here for the wican… thing for Chris."

"Oh my God, I forgot." Piper said, kicking herself.

"Is everything alright?" Victor asked. Things had a way of going wrong quickly in this house. It seemed like every time he visited demons attacked.

Phoebe and Paige came in from the kitchen having heard someone knocking.

"Daddy!" Phoebe called, going to hug her father. She glanced nervously at Grams, knowing the older woman didn't like Victor at all; she blamed him for leaving Patty, despite the fact that she'd been partially responsible for the breakup.

"So, this is baby Chris, huh?" Victor asked, looking at the baby. "He's beautiful, Piper. Of course, we already know that he's going to grow up into a handsome young man."

"I can't do this." Piper said, handing Wyatt to Leo and running upstairs.

"Uh…" Leo said before handing Wyatt to Paige and running up the stairs after Piper.

"What did I say?" Victor asked, concerned about his daughter's odd behavior.

Grams, Patty, Phoebe and Paige shared a look. "Come into the living room, Daddy, and I'll explain." Phoebe said, leading her father away. The other women follow, bringing the boys.

Up in Piper's bedroom, she threw herself down on her bed crying. Leo entered the room after her, but was hesitant to approach her. Not only was this the room where Chris died, but he'd long ago given up and right to be close with Piper in this room. For two months he'd visited his sons but stayed away from Piper. After two months of the Elders arguing about his killing Gideon he wasn't one of them anymore, wasn't even a whitelighter, he didn't know what to do. He wanted to try again with Piper, but he'd hurt her so badly. He'd failed his son and didn't know if he deserved another chance. Then again, it had been one of the last things his son had asked of him – to have his family back together.

"Piper…" he said, kneeling beside the bed and stroking her hair.

"How can I do this? How can I have a wiccanning for baby Chris when I know that…" Piper cried.

"Because, he deserves to be welcomed into this family, into this world, with love and grace. You said so yourself. That hasn't changed, honey." Leo said, continuing to stroke her hair.

TBC…