Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, and I shall regret that until I die...Which,
for all I know, could be any day now...lol, not.
"I'll follow him home," Piper offered, shrugging. "You never know."
"You'd better not..." Brian began to warn, but stopped short before he could finish, caving in on Piper's begging look. "Aw, what harm could it do?"
Piper grinned, hugged Prue, and ran to follow Chris out the door.
Chris took his swim bag and skateboard and headed towards the back of the pool where nobody could see him. Piper knew that he was going to orb and, thinking quickly, she grabbed his hand so she orbed with him. 'Lucky he couldn't feel that...' she thought.
The instant he orbed in he flopped onto the living room couch in exhaustion. "Mom?" he called. "Anybody home?"
"Up here, honey," future Piper called from the attic. "What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be at practice?"
"Yeah, but something happened...I think I have a new power," he said, grinning slightly.
Future Piper came down the stairs with a broad smile. "What is it? When did that happen?"
"Wyatt called it rapid acceleration. It's like zipping from one place to another really fast, but it's really weird. I can't control it yet, I even accidentally used it in practice, but Brian didn't notice since he was distracted by something. It makes me kinda dizzy..."
"Well, you sit here and I'll call your father. I'm so proud and I know he will be too!" Piper exclaimed.
"No, that's okay, I'm sure he already knows," said Chris quickly, looking up at the ceiling apprehensively.
'Oh yeah...' past Piper thought. 'In this reality, Piper doesn't know about...'
"Leo! Leo, honey, Chris has a new power!"
Chris bit back his lip, bracing himself, but nobody came. He breathed a sigh of relief. "He's probably just busy," he rationalized, "you know, elder business and stuff. Maybe later."
Future Piper tapped her foot and looked Up There with a disappointed expression. "Well, I know he'll be happy to find out that you have a new power as soon as he comes back. I'll call him again this afternoon, but for now we should make some cookies for when the others come home, alright?"
Chris' face lit up. "Sure!"
Future Piper laughed. "I sure know the way to calm you down. Let's make some chocolate chip this time, it's yours and your dad's favorite...that'll bring him down eventually if nothing else will," she joked.
Chris forced a smile. "Yeah..."
BACK IN 2004...AGAIN...
"I'm fine, Leo, you can leave now," Chris sighed.
"First we should find out what the hell that was," Leo pressed. "You were hurt, even I couldn't heal you and I'm an elder. What if that happens again and there's no one here to help you?"
"I already know what it is," Chris said softly.
"Oh yeah? Care to explain?" Leo asked incredulously. "You weren't doing anything...wrong...were you?"
Chris scoffed. "That's just like you, Leo...Jumping to conclusions..." He got up off the floor and motioned to the altar where the Book of Shadows lay open on the time-travel spell. "You see that? That's a spell...in PHOEBE'S handwriting. Do you wanna know what it did?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "It sent them to the future—MY PAST! They're finding out things they were never supposed to know...And, as was just demonstrated, they're changing it as well. They're gonna murder me..."
"Why, Chris?" Leo inquired, eyes narrowing. "Is there something in your past that you want to hide from us?"
Chris threw his hands up in the air in impatience. "Leo, this is complicated beyond your meaning of understanding! Just leave me alone so I can figure out how the hell to bring them back before they really screw everything up!"
"What is there to 'screw up,' Chris?"
"LEAVE ME ALONE."
"Not until you tell me what you're hiding!"
Chris whipped around and faced Leo, anger bubbling in his eyes. "You want to know what I'm hiding? Are you ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you want to know!?"
"YES, I'M CERTAIN."
"Well, then, DAD," Chris said between gritted teeth, "you'll have to wait until I bring the sisters back."
And then, before Leo could react, Chris recited the spell and disappeared right before his eyes.
Piper watched her future self and son making cookies and grinned, remembering Grams using the same recipe with her when she was a little girl. They always made the best cookies; it was nice to know that that taste would be carried on through the generations.
Her future self finally put the cookies in the oven to bake, setting it to 349 degrees. Both Pipers grinned; it was kind of a joke. Once Phoebe, when she was little, wanted to be a rebel, so instead of setting the oven to 350 she set it to 349. Ever since then the idea kind of stuck.
Past Piper wondered what was going on at the pool. Was their practice going on as normal? Did Brian just keep them there?
Suddenly her future self gasped. "Chris, what happened to your shoulder? Get over here this instant!" She pulled him over towards her to get a close look at it. "I'm definitely calling your father on this one."
"But Mom—"
"Leo! Leo, get down here, your son needs to be healed!"
In an instant, Leo orbed down. "Where's Wyatt?" he demanded, looking around. "What happened to Wyatt?"
"Nothing happened to Wyatt, I'm calling because of Chris," Piper explained.
"Oh." Leo walked slowly over to Chris, giving him a stone glare as cold as ice as soon as future Piper couldn't see. Once he finished hastily healing him, he hissed in Chris' ear, "You may have brainwashed her, but soon I'll reveal you for what you truly are."
Chris stood, dumbstruck, watching Leo orb away. When his mother turned towards him, though, he quickly changed his expression to one of happiness.
"So, did your tell your father the good news about your power?"
"Yeah...he was very excited for me," Chris lied.
Past Piper shook her head. It wasn't right; how could her future self not see what was eating her son up inside?
"Um, Brian?" Phoebe asked tentatively. "Just so you know, you've been telling them to practice their flip turns for like, the past thirty minutes. Don't you think it's about time for them to—I dunno—do something else?"
"Oh, right—Uh, sprint laps starting off the blocks, okay?" he called out to the team.
"How many?" Colin shouted.
Brian shrugged in indifference, picking a random number. "Twelve. Then you're done."
"Alright."
Suddenly a bright, blindingly blue light flashed from behind them. All four of the adults whipped around to see what was going on, but it took awhile for the brightness and fog surrounding it to disintegrate. Once it did, a figure came into picture—and it didn't look too happy, either.
"What possessed you," Chris began, infuriated, "to invade MY timeline behind my back?"
MWAHAHAH!! I did it again, didn't I? You know, cliffies are really starting to get even for fun by the chapter...I should do this more often!! I can imagine: Math teacher: "So, what's the answer to this problem, Emma?" Me: "MWAHAHAH! I can't tell you or it'll break the suspense for the entire class! What fun would that be!?" Teacher: (slaps head in frustration) "Not again. Whose turn is it this time to slap some sense into her?" Class (edges away from my seat) Person Unfortunate Enough To Sit Next To Me: "Not my turn! Her evil sense of suspense...it kills me...KILLS ME..." (drops on floor dead). Me: "MWAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAH!!" (pause) "Does anybody have a cookie?"
HINT HINT, Random insane person...cookies, plz...
"I'll follow him home," Piper offered, shrugging. "You never know."
"You'd better not..." Brian began to warn, but stopped short before he could finish, caving in on Piper's begging look. "Aw, what harm could it do?"
Piper grinned, hugged Prue, and ran to follow Chris out the door.
Chris took his swim bag and skateboard and headed towards the back of the pool where nobody could see him. Piper knew that he was going to orb and, thinking quickly, she grabbed his hand so she orbed with him. 'Lucky he couldn't feel that...' she thought.
The instant he orbed in he flopped onto the living room couch in exhaustion. "Mom?" he called. "Anybody home?"
"Up here, honey," future Piper called from the attic. "What's going on? Aren't you supposed to be at practice?"
"Yeah, but something happened...I think I have a new power," he said, grinning slightly.
Future Piper came down the stairs with a broad smile. "What is it? When did that happen?"
"Wyatt called it rapid acceleration. It's like zipping from one place to another really fast, but it's really weird. I can't control it yet, I even accidentally used it in practice, but Brian didn't notice since he was distracted by something. It makes me kinda dizzy..."
"Well, you sit here and I'll call your father. I'm so proud and I know he will be too!" Piper exclaimed.
"No, that's okay, I'm sure he already knows," said Chris quickly, looking up at the ceiling apprehensively.
'Oh yeah...' past Piper thought. 'In this reality, Piper doesn't know about...'
"Leo! Leo, honey, Chris has a new power!"
Chris bit back his lip, bracing himself, but nobody came. He breathed a sigh of relief. "He's probably just busy," he rationalized, "you know, elder business and stuff. Maybe later."
Future Piper tapped her foot and looked Up There with a disappointed expression. "Well, I know he'll be happy to find out that you have a new power as soon as he comes back. I'll call him again this afternoon, but for now we should make some cookies for when the others come home, alright?"
Chris' face lit up. "Sure!"
Future Piper laughed. "I sure know the way to calm you down. Let's make some chocolate chip this time, it's yours and your dad's favorite...that'll bring him down eventually if nothing else will," she joked.
Chris forced a smile. "Yeah..."
BACK IN 2004...AGAIN...
"I'm fine, Leo, you can leave now," Chris sighed.
"First we should find out what the hell that was," Leo pressed. "You were hurt, even I couldn't heal you and I'm an elder. What if that happens again and there's no one here to help you?"
"I already know what it is," Chris said softly.
"Oh yeah? Care to explain?" Leo asked incredulously. "You weren't doing anything...wrong...were you?"
Chris scoffed. "That's just like you, Leo...Jumping to conclusions..." He got up off the floor and motioned to the altar where the Book of Shadows lay open on the time-travel spell. "You see that? That's a spell...in PHOEBE'S handwriting. Do you wanna know what it did?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "It sent them to the future—MY PAST! They're finding out things they were never supposed to know...And, as was just demonstrated, they're changing it as well. They're gonna murder me..."
"Why, Chris?" Leo inquired, eyes narrowing. "Is there something in your past that you want to hide from us?"
Chris threw his hands up in the air in impatience. "Leo, this is complicated beyond your meaning of understanding! Just leave me alone so I can figure out how the hell to bring them back before they really screw everything up!"
"What is there to 'screw up,' Chris?"
"LEAVE ME ALONE."
"Not until you tell me what you're hiding!"
Chris whipped around and faced Leo, anger bubbling in his eyes. "You want to know what I'm hiding? Are you ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you want to know!?"
"YES, I'M CERTAIN."
"Well, then, DAD," Chris said between gritted teeth, "you'll have to wait until I bring the sisters back."
And then, before Leo could react, Chris recited the spell and disappeared right before his eyes.
Piper watched her future self and son making cookies and grinned, remembering Grams using the same recipe with her when she was a little girl. They always made the best cookies; it was nice to know that that taste would be carried on through the generations.
Her future self finally put the cookies in the oven to bake, setting it to 349 degrees. Both Pipers grinned; it was kind of a joke. Once Phoebe, when she was little, wanted to be a rebel, so instead of setting the oven to 350 she set it to 349. Ever since then the idea kind of stuck.
Past Piper wondered what was going on at the pool. Was their practice going on as normal? Did Brian just keep them there?
Suddenly her future self gasped. "Chris, what happened to your shoulder? Get over here this instant!" She pulled him over towards her to get a close look at it. "I'm definitely calling your father on this one."
"But Mom—"
"Leo! Leo, get down here, your son needs to be healed!"
In an instant, Leo orbed down. "Where's Wyatt?" he demanded, looking around. "What happened to Wyatt?"
"Nothing happened to Wyatt, I'm calling because of Chris," Piper explained.
"Oh." Leo walked slowly over to Chris, giving him a stone glare as cold as ice as soon as future Piper couldn't see. Once he finished hastily healing him, he hissed in Chris' ear, "You may have brainwashed her, but soon I'll reveal you for what you truly are."
Chris stood, dumbstruck, watching Leo orb away. When his mother turned towards him, though, he quickly changed his expression to one of happiness.
"So, did your tell your father the good news about your power?"
"Yeah...he was very excited for me," Chris lied.
Past Piper shook her head. It wasn't right; how could her future self not see what was eating her son up inside?
"Um, Brian?" Phoebe asked tentatively. "Just so you know, you've been telling them to practice their flip turns for like, the past thirty minutes. Don't you think it's about time for them to—I dunno—do something else?"
"Oh, right—Uh, sprint laps starting off the blocks, okay?" he called out to the team.
"How many?" Colin shouted.
Brian shrugged in indifference, picking a random number. "Twelve. Then you're done."
"Alright."
Suddenly a bright, blindingly blue light flashed from behind them. All four of the adults whipped around to see what was going on, but it took awhile for the brightness and fog surrounding it to disintegrate. Once it did, a figure came into picture—and it didn't look too happy, either.
"What possessed you," Chris began, infuriated, "to invade MY timeline behind my back?"
MWAHAHAH!! I did it again, didn't I? You know, cliffies are really starting to get even for fun by the chapter...I should do this more often!! I can imagine: Math teacher: "So, what's the answer to this problem, Emma?" Me: "MWAHAHAH! I can't tell you or it'll break the suspense for the entire class! What fun would that be!?" Teacher: (slaps head in frustration) "Not again. Whose turn is it this time to slap some sense into her?" Class (edges away from my seat) Person Unfortunate Enough To Sit Next To Me: "Not my turn! Her evil sense of suspense...it kills me...KILLS ME..." (drops on floor dead). Me: "MWAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAH!!" (pause) "Does anybody have a cookie?"
HINT HINT, Random insane person...cookies, plz...