This is a very long and sad chapter!! READ PLZ!!

Disclaimer: I'm on Plan L on trying to kidnap Brad Kern and holding Charmed for ransom. That's a lot of failed plans....well, plastic butter knives didn't work, and the security guards found the poisonous snake in my purse before I could sneak it into his desk ("Gee, officer, how did that ugly thing get in my bag?"), and he only slightly bruised his foot with the mouse trap. Am I doing something wrong?

Hey, did you know that you can die if you don't wear socks? I read in this book that Calvin Coolidge's son died because he didn't wear socks with his sneakers while playing tennis and he got a bad blister on his foot. He got blood poisoning from it and died after four days of fever and delirium.

So listen to your gym teachers...wear socks, or die! (Hey, I was just thinking...If I ever make a sock company, that can be my motto: "Wear socks or die. Just ask Calvin Coolidge Jr.'s ghost.")


Chris spent the car drive in silence. Occasionally Wyatt would ask him a question, but his replies were as short as he could make them. He didn't want to talk right now. He wanted to read Leo's mind while he still could—if Phoebe really was coming, then he didn't have much time.

'I still can't believe that happened...We almost let him get KILLED...I'm a Charmed One, dammit, and I couldn't even protect him!'

Chris made a face and tuned out Piper's thoughts. He focused on Leo's face again, but this time Paige's voice broke his concentration.

"Hey, Pheebs, it's me. No, everything is not okay....It's over now, don't worry. But it was pretty intense. Gideon came down and—Phoebe, quit it! Stop asking questions and let me explain! Gideon came down and trapped us in a magical cage—yes, we tried a spell and it didn't work..." She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, he went upstairs and tried to murder Chris!" There was a loud, panicky noise on the other end of the phone. "Yeah, he's fine now. You sure it can't wait? But...okay, okay! I get it!" She sighed and turned to Chris. "She wants to talk to you," she said.

Chris picked up the phone, wondering if telepaths could read minds over the phone. He stared at the buttons for a moment before deciding it was best to talk to her. "Hello?" he asked feebly. He barely knew the woman! He barely knew any of them! What would he say? How's the weather, is Mel all right after the demon attack?

"Oh, Chris...it's good to hear your voice. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, fine." Yeah, right. Besides the fact that he murdered a man and that he was basically scarred for life meant nothing.

"You don't sound fine. What happened?" she repeated.

Chris swallowed. He really didn't want to relive this quite yet. He was still a little shocked himself. "Uh...Gideon attacked."

"You poor thing..." she said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to help."

Why did everyone keep saying sorry? There was nothing to apologize for! "It doesn't matter. He's dead." He handed the phone to Paige without saying good-bye or waiting for her reaction.

"Hello?" asked Paige. "No, he just gave me the phone. I'll explain later. Meet us at the restaurant? Good. See ya there." She hung up the phone, giving Chris a concerned look. Finally, she shut up. Now he could tune into Leo again...

'Paige should've told me about all of his powers. As soon as this lunch thing is over...Uh-oh, gotta make a left here. It's so weird driving these cars instead of those old clunky things from the forties...'

The rest of his thoughts were about how he couldn't believe that he'd almost lost Chris to Gideon again. So, it was true. His past self had been killed by the man that he murdered.

And this was all the proof he needed to know that this timeline was as awry as the elders had predicted. They were right. Chris was definitely a lot more powerful in this time. If a twenty-three-year-old Chris couldn't defend himself, why should a nine-year-old one be able to kill a man?

Maybe Gideon's arrival was fate. Maybe Chris was supposed to be murdered.

The car stopped in the parking lot of a restaurant with big, bright lettering on it. Chris had never been to a restaurant before. He would've been excited...but there was too much on his mind.

"Table for eight, please," said Paige after they got inside. Chris followed a lady to a table and they sat down. He put a napkin on his lap—Sammy always used to remind him to do that—and stared at it.

The fact that there was another Sammy—er, Phil—no, CAM—was a little disturbing. His idol, his role model...was a TWIN. There were two of them. And they were both going to help him.

But what help could they offer when he was supposed to be dead?

He'd never been in life-threatening situations before this week. Well, there had been two times before. One, of course, when the bounty-hunter first came after him. He smiled at the second, remembering. One of the girls at the orphanage was ten when he was four, and she jokingly dared him to climb on the roof. He took the instructions literally and climbed up in the middle of the night—and got stuck. He didn't know how he got down. Chris couldn't remember it. It was Sammy's favorite tale to tell, so that's how he knew. But the girl had been adopted three years later and Chris never knew what really happened that day.

Now he'd evaded death by a mysterious illness, a bounty-hunter, a bridge (twice), and a hostile, delusional elder.

The more he thought about it, the more he considered that it could be meant to be.

"Phoebe—" said Piper. She was cut off immediately by Phoebe's rambling in panic.

"Oh my god...what happened? Gideon AGAIN? I don't believe this! We're going to have to elder-proof our own homes!"

"Phoebe, we're in public," Jason warned.

Phoebe sighed, hushing her voice. "I can't believe he'd do this. Demons we can take. Warlocks, wizards, evil dudes...but an ELDER? I just don't understand it."

Chris scrambled his thoughts upon her arrival, something he was pretty confident in doing now that he had telepathy on his side.

"Are you all right?" asked Phoebe, concerned. "That sounded pretty intense."

It was apparent she was trying to read his thoughts, but by the puzzled expression on her face it was also apparent that she was failing to do so. "I'm fine," he lied, hoping she wouldn't realize why she couldn't read him.

"I'm glad everything's okay. I'm sorry we weren't there to help," she repeated for the umpteenth time that day.

Jason ushered her into her seat, trying once again to hush her. Mel followed, giving Chris a curious look. He tried to smile at her but couldn't bring himself to. Scramble, scramble, scramble, he thought. Maybe telepathy wouldn't be so bad. If he kept scrambling his thoughts like this, there'd be nothing for Phoebe to intrude on.

Until more powers came, at least.

He shuddered at that last thought. The food had arrived and he could occupy his twitchy hands with that in the meantime. The rest of them were discussing the attack in hushed voices. Wyatt was trying to coax Mel into eating her sandwich, but she was shaking her head with a pout.

Scramble, scramble, scramble. He stabbed the noodles with his fork and then quickly put it down. Stabbing could kill somebody. Just like he killed Gideon. Scramble, scramble, scramble.

He stared at his plate for a moment but realized that he ought to eat. They were being so kind and spending money on him; the least he could do was try to enjoy it.

He got about halfway through when he felt positively sick, always think Scramble, scramble, scramble. It was a tiring business. He wished that Phoebe would just leave already!

Suddenly he felt a pair of eyes staring at him. Phoebe was staring at him, eyes glazed over. "Um, Phoebe?" he asked tentatively, all the while thinking even harder, SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE, SCRAMBLE!

"Huh? Oh, sorry honey, I guess I was....daydreaming," she lied. Chris didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she was lying. Which brought him to another idea: Could he read her mind and scramble his thoughts at the same time?

He tried it on Wyatt first, considering he was a non-telepath and should be easier.

This is so crazy...It's like a weird dream or something. Aw, c'mon! Mel thinks I can't SEE her putting that food on the floor?!

"Mel..." warned Wyatt.

Well, it had worked on Wyatt. He tried Mel.

Yucky! I don't like this. Yucky!!!!

Once more to check, he tried Paige.

I can't believe Leo. Why's he so concerned about Chris' powers anyway? Does he actually BELIEVE the other elders now?!

His stomach seemed to sink. He almost let himself forget what Leo was thinking about him. Concentrating hard on scramble his thoughts, he focused on Phoebe.

They stared at each other, eyes both glazed. The intensity of their gaze seemed to create energy between them, building and building until it was about to burst—

"Eek!" Phoebe yelped and Chris squealed, both holding their foreheads.

"Ow..." Phoebe moaned, rubbing her temples. Chris winced.

"What?" asked Piper, panicking. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"

"Fine," said Phoebe vaguely, looking at Chris.

Chris nodded. "Me too."

"Must have been some...funny magic thingy..." Phoebe suggested lamely.

"Are you sure you're both okay? The whole restaurant turned around!" Paige joked.

"Mm-hm," said Phoebe.

Chris was staring at his hands, his barrier destroyed. He was exhausted. But he was too frantic to even think about sleeping. That electric discharge....HE'D done that!

And as Jason quickly requested a check and they walked to the car, Chris couldn't help but think, I am a monster.


Leo turned off the lamp light, watching the two boys sleep. He smiled to himself. After a year had passed since baby Chris' disappearance, he never thought he'd be able to read them a bedtime story together until their eyelids drooped and they fell into dreamland.

It was nice. But he was worried—and that's why he needed to find Paige.

He didn't know that when he closed the door, Chris stirred.

When he walked down the stairs, he was surprised to see Phoebe and Paige sitting in the kitchen, almost acting as if they expected him. Phoebe looked a little shaken as they both were sipping coffee, staring at him come down.

"Hi..." he said, puzzled. "Phoebe...?"

"Hey. Just thought I'd hang around for a little bit," she explained. She took another sip out of the mug.

"I guess we've got things to discuss," said Paige, staring at the brownish liquid. She really, really didn't want to have this conversation, but she and Phoebe knew that Leo would find out sooner or later. Piper was asleep upstairs and this was obviously the best time, especially now that they didn't have an excuse to get out of it.

"Yeah," said Leo after awhile. "You know how I've been wondering about...Chris' powers and all. I just want to know," he added quickly.

"He's pretty powerful," said Paige blankly.

"You said that yesterday," Leo pointed out. "What exactly are his powers?"

Paige took in a deep breath. "I can't explain it, Leo. But you have to promise me that whatever you do, you will treat him the same as you treat Wyatt. What's happening to him—he can't control it. It's not his fault."

"He's scared, Leo," Phoebe added. "Really scared."

"You guys...why would you ever think I'd treat him differently? I just want to know what his powers are."

"Right." Paige cleared her throat. "I'll start with the ones that Chris had in the last timeline: telekinesis and orbing."

"We knew he had those from the start," Leo reminded her.

"Yeah, we know," said Phoebe.

Paige continued. "Yeah, well, when I was testing him, there was more. He can freeze things like Piper. And that means it's only a matter of time before he can blow things up like Wyatt can."

Leo grinned in pride. "He always did take after his mother."

"Yeah, but besides the impatience and stubbornness, he took after you in both timelines," said Phoebe. "And that's why we think he'll be okay."

"So that's it, right?" asked Leo. "I mean, the powers."

Paige looked down, not facing him. "No. There's more."

"What?"

"I said there's more. You heard me. Remember what we talked about, Leo," she said warningly. "He can see for great distances and in the dark. That's why he was able to see you that one time at the orphanage. He was just coming into his more advanced powers then, and he was pretty frazzled."

"Wow...I thought him seeing me was instinct."

"It was. He saw you before he saw anything else with the power, and I'm assuming that's because of the connection between you."

"Oh."

"And he has another power, too." Paige braced herself for his reaction, but there wasn't one. "You know how I was talking about that Herman kid? How Chris was hurt? It turns out he got burned pretty badly. I didn't want to alarm you guys, so I only told Phoebe. But you know what, Leo? He takes after you more than you know. He HEALED himself, right there outside the classroom waiting for me."

"You're kidding!" Leo said excitedly. Then his smile faded. "But he shouldn't be able to..."

"Yes, he should. Leo..." Phoebe was on the verge of tears. "The boys summoned older Chris back from the dead. Only Piper and Wyatt and our Chris saw him. He said that it must be the evening out of powers." She turned to Paige, who nodded. Phoebe continued. "We have a theory. Maybe he was right. In this timeline, Chris has the responsibility of the powers because he can handle them."

"You...you summoned Chris?" he asked faintly. "And you didn't tell me?"

Phoebe leaned in and hugged him. "We all missed him, Leo. And we all wanted to see him. But it would just cause too much pain. You know that."

Leo nodded, trying to stop his eyes from watering. Now he had another problem on his hands.

"And Leo? You know when Chris and I both hurt our heads at the same time during lunch?"

Leo looked up and stared at Phoebe quizzically. "Yeah...why do you ask?"

"Because that was no coincidence. I was trying to read his thoughts and all I was picking up was 'scramble, scramble, scramble.' He was scrambling his thoughts so I couldn't read them! Then I realized that he was staring at me, too, and it all started to make sense. Leo," she said gently, "Chris can read minds."

Leo didn't reply.

"We both blocked our thoughts, sending electric waves between each other until they finally burst and smacked us both."

Leo was silent.

"Leo...."

"Maybe—" Leo managed to choke out, in denial, "maybe the elders were right. Maybe Chris was too powerful. He could end up like Wyatt. Evil."

"Leo, how could you say that?!" Paige nearly shrieked. "He's scared! He's only a little boy and all of a sudden he's been torn away from the life he ever knew!" Hot tears of frustration and passion formed, but she didn't acknowledge them. "I know what it's like, feeling like you're a freak. I mean, I was twenty-two when you guys found me, and I was scared to death! And he's only nine years old! All of his friends—who are more a family to him then we are, whether we like it or not—think he's dead! He's starting a new life and he doesn't know anything about it. He's lost. He's scared. He's confused. But I know he can do this."

"She's right, Leo," Phoebe argued. "I can't believe you'd say that. Do you know what? He's even more frightened then we'd think. I'm the empath, trust me. And he blames himself for Gideon's death and the bounty hunter coming. He thinks he's a monster because of all of his powers. Can't you see that?"

A tear rolled down Leo's cheek. "I know. I'm scared, too. I just want...my boys to be okay."

Phoebe sighed, hugging him again. "Who said that they weren't okay?"

They were so busy talking earlier that they didn't hear the front door slam.


"Ready?" asked an evil Leo in a mirror. Chris looked around his dream. He knew this was a dream—another memory, most likely—so he couldn't be seen. He appeared to be in an underground place, and it looked wicked and scary. A little baby was in a magical cage next to him and he recognized him immediately as little Wyatt.

"Yeah," said good Leo, "buy you can't do anything—I have to do this alone." He turned to an important looking man—Gideon—who was on the floor by the mirror in which the evil looking Leo was speaking.

"I know," evil Leo agreed.

"Do what?" asked Gideon, seeming to twitch a bit.

"A great evil."

Chris suddenly realized what was happening. He didn't know how he knew. He was granted the knowledge in the dream: of the sisters fighting themselves in a parallel world, causing them to be unbalanced; Chris dying and Leo avenging his death, while at the same time killing Gideon to restore balance. It all made sense.

But the knowledge of that didn't make it any easier to watch his normally calm, kind father raise his hands up in the air with a sick, merciless look across his face and blow Gideon to smithereens as he howled in horror and pain.


Chris stirred in his sleep, waking up shaking. He gasped, remembering the dream. He needed to go downstairs. He needed to find Leo and make sure he was still good—just seeing Leo and knowing that the nightmare wasn't still real would be enough to console him.

He headed down the stairs and heard voices.

"We both blocked our thoughts, sending electric waves between each other until they finally burst and smacked us both."

It was Phoebe's voice. Chris stifled a cry—he knew that she was talking about him.

Leo was silent, his head held down. Chris felt his insides ache. Why did he look so worried, so ashamed?

"Leo...."

"Maybe—" Leo managed to choke out, in denial, "maybe the elders were right. Maybe Chris was too powerful. He could end up like Wyatt. Evil."

Chris stared at the three of them in horror. He stood there in shock for about ten seconds before doing the only thing that made sense:

Run.

He opened the front door, slammed it shut, and ran out into the night.


Man, that was LOOOONG.

PLZ REVIEW! I worked very hard on this chappie!

--Pink-Charmed-One--