Disclaimer: I don't own charmed
He thanx to everyone that reviewed. I really appreciate it.
Chapter 9: Blast Off
"Chris? Sweetie?" Piper called as her and Leo climbed the stairs up to the attic. "We need to talk," she said pushing open the door. Once she looked in, Piper was terrified by what she saw. Chris stood in front of the triquetra, which was now glowing blue. "Chris NO!" Piper screamed, but it was too late, Chris had already gone through the wall. "What are we going to do?" Piper asked turning desperately to Leo.
"We go after him," Leo said, eliciting a stare from Piper. "I'm not letting my son go back to that horrible place alone. We're going to save him. Your sisters can watch Wyatt. Now hurry the portal is closing."
"What about the elders?"
"Screw the elders!" Leo said, surprising Piper even more.
"What are we going to do about the baby?" Piper asked, suddenly remembering her child.
"Actually," said a voice startling Piper and Leo, "I would be happy to watch the little guy," said the elf nanny.
"Great!" Phoebe said from the doorway. She and Paige had been standing there, unnoticed by Piper and Leo.
"Yeah, let's go, before the portal closes," Paige ordered, already moving towards the wall. Piper looked like she was going to object, but didn't have time, because Leo had already walked through the portal.
"Let's go," Piper conceded
Then, Piper, Paige, and Phoebe followed Leo through the portal. Within moments they stepped into the manor, only it had changed. After his trip through the portal, Wyatt had closed the museum to the public, but he still kept it in running order.
"Wow," Paige commented, "It's so...so...clean."
"Yeah, it looks like a museum," Phoebe said in wonder.
"That's because it is," Chris explained as he moved out of the shadows. "What are you all doing here? It's too dangerous. You should go back."
"No, we're here to help you Chris. You're my son," Leo said putting his hand on Chris' shoulder. "I'm going to be here for you, no matter what."
"Sure," Chris scoffed pulling away from Leo. "Listen, just go-"
"We're not leaving," Piper said stubbornly, "so get used to it."
"Fine," Chris relented, "but we have to get out of here. Come on." He grabbed onto the sisters and Leo and orbed them away.
While the manor looked almost the same as in the past, the rest of the city had not faired so well. The group landed on a deserted street lined with crumbled buildings. Chris led everyone into a dilapidated old ice cream store.
"What are we doing here?" Paige asked taking in her surroundings. "Chris?"
"Just shut up and follow me," Chris ordered, slightly annoyed at the sisters' constant pestering.
"Now you listen to me young man-" Piper started, waving her finger dangerously in her son's face.
"Frigid Witch."
"What did you call me?" Piper asked, angrily advancing on her son. "Oh, it's the password," Piper realized as the back wall dissolved, exposing a long white hallway.
"Let's go," Chris stated. As soon as all five people had entered the hallway, the wall rematerialized. Leo and the sisters had to run to keep up with Chris who was briskly walking down the hallway. Hundreds of doors lined the corridor. Chris guided the sisters and Leo through one of those doors. Inside they saw a small white room with three sets of bunk beds. The rooms were immaculate, and looked much like a hospital. Each bed was covered in a thin blue sheet. "You guys can stay in here for the night. We'll organize a mission to send you back tomorrow. Have a good night," Chris said, praying that they would just let that be it. Deep down he knew his mother wouldn't just drop it, but it was worth a shot.
"No," was all that Piper said.
"I agree with your mother. We came back here to help. Now, what's the plan?" Leo asked, ready for action.
"Listen, I'm sorry I haven't been quite as appreciative as I should been. I have to get to a meeting, but I'll send someone to show you around. I'll see you at dinner," Chris sighed as he slipped out of the room.
"So now what?" Phoebe asked sitting down on one of the beds.
"I don't know. This is some place though," Paige said. "It looks like a mental illness compound. Do you think we should go look around?"
"Chris said he'd send someone," Piper decided. "That must be her." A young girl about sixteen stood in the doorway. She had shoulder length light brown hair that was flipped out at the ends. She, like Andy had, wore a black leather jump suit with knee high boots.
"Hi!" she said perkily, "I'm Justine. Chris asked me to show you around, if you want."
"That'd be great," Leo said enthusiastically as he stood up off the bed he had been sitting on. The young girl gave him a cool stare, before coming back to reality and putting her cheerleader smile back into place.
"Ok, let's go."
"Christopher Perry Haliwell. What are you doing back here?" Future Leo asked advancing on Chris. The father and son were in Chris' office just down the hall from where the sisters were staying. They didn't realize it, but as Justine had led the girls and Leo down the hall to go back to their room, they had stopped at the sound of Leo's raised voice. "I told you not to come back here until you had saved your brother. Judging by the chaos and destruction, I'll assume you failed, as usual."
"Oh shove it Dad!" Chris screamed, "I don't care what you think. I'm doing my best besides you're one to talk about failure.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Leo asked, his eyes slitted, and his fists balled.
"Face it, you failed as a father by letting your son become evil. You failed yourself by going over to the dark-side. You failed your family by selling them out, just to save the one you'd already lost. You failed as a husband by letting your wife die. Hell, you even failed as an elder, by letting nearly every single witch in the world die. I'm not the failure, you are," Chris disdainfully reproached.
"You will not talk to me that way young man." Chris could tell he had gotten to Leo. Though he'd become cold while being an elder, he still wasn't heartless. He had loved Piper, and missed her dearly. "If you had learned to heal, your mother and her sisters wouldn't have died," Leo spat.
"That's bull shit! You were never around to teach me. Now get the hell out of here!" Chris hollered. Leo seemed to take too long for Chris' liking, so he blew Leo up and scattered his orbs, before huffily sitting down and burying his face in his hands. After a moment, Chris shoved himself out of his chair and began to systematically blow up everything in his office. He smashed his desk, and blew up the plush chair in the corner. Then, Chris pulled the pictures off his wall and threw them on the ground. After the room was thoroughly dismantled, Chris heaved a humongous sigh, and sat down in the last whole chair in the room. He was startled from his thoughts by Justine knocking on the door.
"Chris?" she asked, timidly entering the office. "I was just going to take everyone down to dinner, and Piper insisted on you coming."
"Mom?" Chris gasped looking up. This was the last thing he wanted his family to witness. "I, uh, I-"
"My poor baby," Piper said as she ran over to Chris and put her arms around him. Chris could tell she had heard the whole conversation, because there were tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry sweetie." Piper clutched Chris' face close to her heart, and began to rock him back and forth.
"Chris," Leo breathed. He also had tears in his eyes. It was hard for him to believe that he could become that man. "I don't know what to say. If it means anything, I'm proud of you, and you are not a failure. I believe in you," Leo said as he moved over pulled up a chair by his son.
"Yeah, Leo's an idiot," Paige said, moving into the room. "No offense. I meant future Leo."
"Come on, we'll go get some dinner," Phoebe said, trying to change the subject.
"Ok," Chris conceded, "but first... Let the Object of objection become a dream. To cause this seen to be unseen." The room was once again immaculate, and everything was whole.
"Chris," admonished Piper, "that's personal gain. You know better than that."
"Oh, come on Piper, he's had a tough day, just let it slide this once," Leo said slapping Chris on the back and steering him towards the door. For the third time today, Piper looked at him completely bewildered. "What?"
"You certainly have changed. I mean first you decide to follow Chris through the portal, then you say 'screw the elders,' now you're condoning personal gain. I love you," Piper said kissing Leo deeply.
"Eeeww, get a room," Chris and Justine chorused disgusted.
"Let's get some food!" Paige said, leading everyone out of the office, and turning left down the hall.
"Actually, Paige, the cafeteria is this way," Justine corrected.