A/N: I hope you all don't mind that I take some space to thank my reviewers personally. I really, really appreciate each and every review I get, because it keeps me going. I'm not sure I would be updating as often if it weren't for you guys, (ie. knowing that there are people out there, actually reading my fic.)

Rhia: Will do! salutes ; )

Melissa-p: Yes, I'm a spoiler junkie – I love reading spoilers for all shows, and I thought it'd be fun if I threw in some to the story, just for kicks. You can read where Drew isn't coming back at drewfullerfan (sorry, for some reason the program won't let me put in the www and the around the site name) which is an awesome site, BTW, for any fan of Drew's

Eboni: I, too, wish the writers would bring back Chris, but (sigh), I realize that having an extra guy on the show that the girls can't hit on isn't in the cards. Oh well. I guess the character will just have to live on in my fan fic.

Drewfuller4eva: Thank you so much for taking the time to post a review for each chapter. I really, really appreciate the encouragement, and it helps keep me motivated to keep writing as fast as I can.

Ilovedrew88: As to saving Chris, well, that is one of the major plot lines in my story, so I hope they will save him too! Stay tuned!

Mar: I'm glad you liked the twist, and felt bad for Leo. I really wanted Leo to come off as trying to be a good father, but circumstances, through no fault of his own, keep working against him.

Teal-lover: Awesome story? Coming from you, that is truly a compliment. I've been enjoying your story very much as well. bows head in awe

Reion: Thanks! I'm glad you think it's a good story...I was a little afraid that I would post it, and everyone would be, like, huh?

FennecFox11: Yeah, I'm addicted to spoilers. I know some producers hate spoilers, but hey, I figure, if I didn't want to be spoiled, then I wouldn't read them.

Manette: Bonjour! Si vous ecrirez en francais avec moi, j'espere que je peux comprendre un petit peu! O.K., that's the extent of my badly written French (sorry, no accents on the computer keyboard...). Yes, Chris did choose Hell to save Leo from that fate. Poor Chris...

Fatefuldestiny: Hints received!

Rafiki: As you can see, I'm definitely continuing the fic. The question is just how long winded am I?

Gimmieabreak: I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying...really I am...I'm hurrying so much that I think I have carpel tunnel syndrome from typing so much.

Spikesummers: Well, I'm not taking him out just yet, but hey, look on the bright side, there's no fire where he is!

Okay, on with the show!

Chapter 4 Previously...

"Agreed." Leslie smiled. "I won't let you down, Phoebe. I promise."

Nodding her agreement, Phoebe shifted baby Chris in her arms. Although only two months old, her nephew was rapidly putting on weight. Seeing her struggling with the baby, Leslie opened up his arms and offered, "Would you like me to take him? Like I said, my sister's got a bunch of the noise makers, so I've had lots of practice."

Staring into his eyes, Phoebe tried to read him again. She wanted to be positive that her instincts were right about this man, before she would even consider handing her nephew over. But she couldn't read anything from him; it felt like she was sliding her hand over glass walls as she tried to search behind his eyes. It had been easy to read him before, why couldn't she read him now?

"Phoebe?" Leslie prompted, his arms still outstretched.

Phoebe tightened her hold on her nephew. No matter how much her instincts were telling her to trust this man, and even though her initial reading of him told her to trust him, she wasn't positive. She wasn't sure she could trust anyone again, not after Gideon's betrayal. Phoebe opened her mouth to come up with a plausible excuse, "Ohh, I don't know. He's a little shy of strangers..."

Leslie quirked his eyebrow at her, "I was holding him before, and he was just fine."

"Well, ahhh, you see...," Phoebe grinned weakly, racking her brain for an excuse, "My sister, his mom, probably wouldn't want a stranger to, you know..."

Before Phoebe could complete her sentence, a portal glowed, and then opened, as a demon stepped through the portal behind Leslie.

"Wyatt! Danger!" Wyatt's shield came up immediately, as Phoebe screamed.

Without even a glance towards the playpen, the demon focused its eyes on Phoebe, forming an energy ball and threw it straight towards her.

"Get down!" Leslie yelled, and before Phoebe could react, pushed her out of the way. Clutching baby Chris, Phoebe stumbled, trying to keep her balance, and fell to the floor, narrowly missing crushing her nephew beneath her. Phoebe felt the heat of the energy ball as it whizzed by her, so close that she swore the hair on her head was slightly singed.

"Hey! Watch it!" Phoebe glared at Leslie, as she gingerly rolled to her side, twisting her body to protect the baby, hoping to hide behind the couch. Leslie, crouching protectively over her and the baby, ignored her as the demon began to stalk them. Cursing her lack of active powers, Phoebe opened her mouth to yell for Leo, when she felt the heat from another energy ball on her face.

Time seemed to slow as Phoebe watched the energy ball headed straight for her and Leslie. As if in slow motion, Phoebe desperately struggled to get out of the way, her feet scrambling beneath her, as she sought to save her nephew. Without her active powers, she couldn't channel the fireball away from them in time. She held up her hand in front of her face futilely in hopes of warding off the fiery death they were about to meet.

But the painful death she was expecting didn't come. As Phoebe slowly lowered her hand, she saw that the fireball that had been whizzing towards them, paused, and then was redirected back towards the demon, who erupted into flames, thoroughly vanquished.

"What the hell just happened?" Phoebe thought out loud, glancing up at Leslie, still crouched above her. He was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his face, as he looked down at Phoebe.

"I think I just saved your life."

Chris gingerly made his way along what was left of the street in the general direction to the Resistance's home base. At least, he hoped he was heading in the right direction. The destruction of the entire city made it difficult for him to really pinpoint where he was. He had a pretty good guess, but it was still just a guess.

In the distance, Chris could hear the high-pitched whine of energy balls above the howling of the wind; then the explosions that continued to punish the city followed, as the street buckled beneath him.

Well, I must be on the right track, Chris thought to himself, after all, the territory around the base was always under attack. Or, when a turf war amongst the demons escalated into infighting; it wasn't in their nature to get along with each other.

Stealthily moving his way along the street, Chris was grateful for the covering darkness. Streetlights were a thing of the past, a memory, like most of the city; luckily, the showers of cinders and tongues of flames from the resulting energy balls provided all the light he needed. Or unluckily, depending on how you thought about it. At least the rain has stopped.

Chris picked up his pace, knowing that in a few short hours, daylight would rise, and with it, his cover lost. So far he hadn't encountered any demons; but then, neither had he encountered any Resistance fighters. They could be laying low, Chris reasoned, but where are the scout teams?

He pushed aside his doubts, and realizing he was close, Chris eagerly moved forward, ducking into a ruined building, searching – there...

By all appearances, it was just another damaged high-rise with barely 5 floors still standing, on a block full of other destroyed buildings; none stood taller than 10 stories, a depressing reminder of the once proud sky-scrapers that had graced the city's skyline at one point. But in this building was a tunnel that Chris was looking for, a tunnel that would take him to home base. He hurried over to a decrepit iron gate, hanging drunkenly on its hinges. Carefully moving it aside, he slipped into the dark corridor that lay beyond. The winding service corridor was barely lit but for a few malfunctioning flickering neon lights, and Chris slowed his pace to allow his eyes to adjust to the spooky darkness. The tunnel descended beneath ground level, connecting to the basement of the building and to the underground network of tunnels below.

Still wary least he encounter any demons, Chris continued to cautiously move forward, keeping his eyes and ears peeled. The tunnels were mainly unguarded; the complicated layout acted in favour of the Resistance, against those, such as demons, unfamiliar with the miles of underground tunnels. Because of the destruction of the buildings above ground, and the resulting damage beneath, not all tunnels were safe due to the instability of the foundations and some ended in dead ends. In its prior life, it had been an underground shopping concourse, much like an underground city, linked to numerous buildings in the downtown San Francisco area. Now it served as the home base of the Resistance.

Two miles later, Chris arrived at his destination. The growing dread in his stomach had been building; there should have been no way that he could gotten so close to the base without running into scouts from the Resistance. Possibilities ran through his mind, and the best-case scenario was that they were spread frighteningly thin. Too thin to even guard the tunnels that protected them from their foes.

In front of him lay a huge steel door, much like one found on a bank vault; in fact, it had been, before it had been dragged here to serve as the first line of defense to the base. To the untrained eye, it looked like a dead end, a collapsed section of the tunnel. The magic of illusion hid the door from demons from stumbling across it.

Placing his palms against the door, he could hear the wheels turning, as the magical locking system recognized him. Within seconds, the door swung open, and Chris stepped foot into what had been his home for most of his adult life in the future, as the door swung shut behind him.

The base was an enormous underground structure of steel and reinforced concrete that housed the Resistance and the innocents they protected. Bustling with people, it had been an underground hive of activity, where all Resistance efforts were planned and coordinated. Chris had half expected the shelter to be humming with activity.

Instead, he felt the death wind that blew like a gust from hell through the deserted base.

There was no one there.

In disbelief, Chris began to run across the huge complex, picking his way across, heading for the command post. Breathing hard, he passed the scorched floors and metal shafts, connectors and other objects littering the floor, laying where they had obviously fallen. It was obvious to Chris now that there had been a huge battle, for the entire complex was in ruins. Yanking the door open to the command post, he stepped into the room where he had spent most of his time in the future before he had left to save Wyatt. It was round, with a round table in the centre. A single lamp was lit, suspended from the ceiling, positioned exactly above the centre of the table. Beneath it, a white crystal, the size of a soccer ball, rested on the table. As the door closed behind him, he acknowledged the 'dead' feeling to the room. He moved to the far end of the room, where ceiling to floor windows looked out, onto the complex. He let his gaze slowly circle the room, and then turned to the windows, searching.

There was no sign of life.

The Resistance was gone.

He was alone.

"Thank you...I think...Just how did you do that?" Phoebe, still on the ground, backpedaled away from Leslie, only to be brought up short as her back hit the couch, her eyes never leaving him.

Slowly, Leslie rose to his feet and held his hand out to Phoebe. "You can trust me, Phoebe."

Slapping his hand away, Phoebe scrambled to her feet, baby Chris fussing as her hold tightened. Relaxing her grip just a bit (boy, did she hope the kid didn't have bruises later, or Piper was going to kill her), she shot a glance over Leslie's shoulder, making sure Wyatt was still okay. The toddler was standing on both feet, his shield down, his little hands gripping the top of the playpen as he stared at his aunt and the man.

"Where have I heard that before?" Phoebe gestured for Leslie to move away, so that she could pass him. "Did you think I was born yesterday? Let me tell you, telling me to trust you, really doesn't make me inclined to. Now I want to know what the hell just happened and who the hell you are, or I'll vanquish you to the beyond." Slowly, with her back to Wyatt, she walked towards the playpen, past Leslie. Her eyes never leaving Leslie, she placed baby Chris in the playpen with Wyatt. "Wyatt, shield," Phoebe said, and the toddler immediately responded to his aunt's command, the blue shield effectively protecting both him and his brother.

Her hands on her hips, Phoebe stood protectively in front of her nephews as she waited. "I may not have all my active powers, but I can still cast spells, and I can rhyme pretty fast if I have to."

Holding his hands up in the air in surrender, Leslie took a step forward, "Look Phoebe..."

"Back off! Now!" Phoebe commanded, as Leslie hastily took several steps back.

His hands still in the air, Leslie sighed. "Phoebe, you can trust me. You know you can. I know you've got your empathy powers back. Read me. Trust me."

Narrowing her eyes, Phoebe concentrated. Gazing into his eyes, this time, there was no glass wall to stop her from reading him.

Protectiveness. Concern. And desire--?

Abruptly, the emotions were cut off, as the glass wall came up again. Looking slightly embarrassed, his cheeks slightly flushed, Leslie stuttered, "Uh, I think you got a good enough read to trust me, right?

Cocking her head to the side, Phoebe studied the handsome man in front of her. Now was not the time, but in another time and place...he was kind of cute...shaking her head, Phoebe focused on the main issue, "And how exactly did you block me?"

"I'm a telepath. That's how I was able to channel the energy ball back at the demon earlier." Leslie shrugged sheepishly. As Phoebe's eyes grew in alarm, he hastily explained, "Don't worry! I don't go rummaging about in someone else's mind unless they want me to! Besides, I keep myself shielded most of the time not to just prevent other people from reading me, but to keep their thoughts out as well. You have no idea how annoying it can get, reading other people's random thoughts."

"Actually, I might." Phoebe thought back to the time when she could read her sisters' emotions, whether she wanted to or not. A thought occurred to her. "So, before, when I first opened the door, that reading I got? You let me read you?" Phoebe asked.

Leslie nodded. "I knew you wouldn't let me in if you didn't get some kind of hit off me. And I needed to prove to you that I'm not a threat."

"Well, I'm still not sure if you're a threat or not..." Phoebe trailed off.

"Phoebe, you read me!"

"That doesn't mean you're not a threat! Sorry if you don't like that, but the fact that you can block me at all, doesn't really help your argument." Phoebe pointed out.

Exasperated, Leslie threw his hands up in the air. "Look, Phoebe, I know this is a lot to take in..."

"Nooooo, it's not, because, when you get right down to it, you haven't TOLD me anything." Phoebe interrupted, "Well, except that you're a telepath who admires and respects babies..." gesturing to baby Chris, "and you want to be a ghostwriter. Whoa! Wait a minute, are you even a ghostwriter? Or is this a set up?" Phoebe eyed Leslie suspiciously.

"Look, it's not that I don't want to tell you..." Leslie tried again.

"Oh no! I'm SO not falling for that again." Phoebe glared, "Either you tell me the whole story, or get out." Arching her eyebrow at him, Phoebe crossed her arms, every single bone in her body conveying her stubbornness.

Sighing, Leslie looked away for a moment, before making his decision. "I was sent from the future to protect the Charmed Ones. That demon, he didn't shimmer in, Phoebe. He came through a portal. A time portal."

"Excuse me?!?" Phoebe moaned, pinching the bridge of her nose in stress. "What is with all this time travel lately? Can't you people do things right the first time?"

"Phoebe! I'm trying to do what's right! That's why I'm here!" Leslie rolled his eyes.

"You said you were sent here...so who sent you?" Phoebe asked, suspiciously. "And don't tell me you can't tell me." Holding her hand up to stall him, she announced, "Yeah, yeah, I've heard all about the future consequences thingy that I'm going to take. Either I get a full explanation right here, right now, or the only thing you'll be protecting is yourself."

Sighing, Leslie confessed, "Darryl sent me."

The doorbell rang.

"Huh, our Darryl?"

Leslie shrugged, "Well, not your Darryl, precisely, but Darryl in the future, about 22 years from now. He's a good friend of mine."

Before Phoebe could question him further, the doorbell rang again, followed by some incessant knocking.

"Phoebe? Piper? Paige? Hell-o? Anyone in there?" a familiar voice shouted through the front door.

Pointing her finger at him, Phoebe glared at Leslie, "Do not move...I need to get that, and if you move one inch..."

"I know, I know, you'll vanquish me to the beyond." Leslie completed, tiredly. "Maybe I shouldn't point this out, but I'm not a demon, so you can't vanquish me, you know."

"Maybe not. But I can certainly turn you into a toad, mister. Now stay!"

With one eye still on Leslie, Phoebe opened the front door. "Daddy!"

"Hey honey! I was about to get a little scared there. After all, on the phone you told me that it was an emergency." Victor moved into the hallway, pulling off his coat. "How are my two favourite grandsons...And who might you be?" Victor asked, pleasantly, as he caught sight of Leslie.

"I'm a friend of Phoebe's. Leslie." Sticking out his hand, Leslie grasped Victor's hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Wait a minute! We haven't decided if you're a friend yet!" Phoebe glared at Leslie, again.

"So whose friend are you?" Victor asked, puzzled.

Cutting off Leslie's reply, Phoebe rounded on him, pointing her finger to the far end of the room, "What did I say about toads? Back to your corner now, while I try to figure out what to do with you..."

Victor quirked his eyebrow at his daughter, "Problems?"

"Yeah, he says he's from the future."

"Oh geez! I have another grandson?!" Victor exclaimed, alarmed.

"No!" Both Leslie and Phoebe shouted, both of their expressions equally horrified. It was hard to tell who was more repulsed by the idea. "No, errrr, I'm a friend of Darryl's. Not related to the Halliwells in any way, shape or form. Scout's honour." Leslie insisted, holding his right hand up.

"That's good," Victor replied, a little less agitated. "I'm still getting use to the notion of meeting one of my future grandsons as an adult."

"This is all very well and good, but could we please try and concentrate here? Okay, you're a friend of Darryl's. Why would Darryl send you here? And how did he even send you here? He doesn't have any powers." Phoebe closed her eyes, frustration oozing from every pore in her body.

"Well, you see..."

THUD!!

Hearing a thud in the attic, Phoebe glanced heavenwards. "That must be Paige. Okay I'm going up there. You, don't touch anything and don't move," she pointed at Leslie, "And you, stay here with the kids. Wyatt will protect you with his shield." And with that, she marched up the stairs, leaving the two men staring at each other.

Paige cursed. Rubbing her side where it had hit the stand, she bent over to pick up the overturned stand and the Book of Shadows from where it had fallen onto the floor.

"Paige, is that you?" Phoebe's voice drifted up the stairs.

"Yeah, sorry. Someone moved the Book of Shadows." Paige explained, as Phoebe entered the attic. "Where are the kids?"

"Daddy's with them." Phoebe looked around the room, "Where are Piper and Leo?"

Paige shrugged, "They were still here when I left for the club. They must have gone to see the Elders without us."

"I wish they would have waited for us," Phoebe grumbled.

"Yeah, well, they didn't. So let's try to do something useful in the meantime and scry for Chris." Paige pulled the piece of paper she had retrieved from P3, and headed over to the table, picking up the scrying crystal.

"A piece of paper? Is that what you brought? Why not a sweater, or a T-shirt or..."

"Because that's all I could find! He, like, had a Piper and cleaned everything out!" Paige retorted.

"Oh."

Twenty minutes later, the two sisters were still in the attic.

"Find anything yet?" Phoebe asked, as she hovered over Paige's shoulder.

"No, not since the 5 seconds ago when you last asked me." Paige threw her sister an irritating look, before looking down at the papers in front of her. She had been scrying for Chris, using the map of the planes of existence she had grabbed the last time she had visited Magic School; she had been curious about the different planes. She had meant to return it when she was done, but hadn't gotten around to it.

At the sounds of orbs, Paige glanced up from the map, "Hey, so did you guys find out anything about..." Paige stopped, abruptly, seeing the expressions on Leo's and Piper's faces as the orbs formed.

Both Piper and Leo shook their heads slowly. "They won't...they won't reverse their decision. They say it was Chris' choice." Leo said, hoarsely, his throat still constricted from unshed tears.

"But why? Why would Chris choose to go to Hell?" Phoebe questioned. "No one would ever choose to go there. I mean, it's the last place any sane individual would want to go..."

"Phoebe." Piper tried to stop her sister from prattling on.

"I mean, Hell is suppose to be horrible, right? Why would he want to go somewhere where he'd experience torture and pain and..." Phoebe rattled on, oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Phoebe!" Piper yelled, "Enough! We don't need this right now." Piper could see her sister's hurt expression, but she couldn't worry about Phoebe right now. Glancing at Leo, she saw that it was too late. He was devastated.

"He choose to go to Hell for me." Leo whispered. He sat down on the chair across from Paige, looking utterly defeated. Guilt tore at his insides; every word that Phoebe had said felt like a sword was being shoved into his gut. "He...he took my punishment. The punishment meant for me; for killing an Elder – Gideon. He..." Leo's voice broke, as he imagined the horrors his son was facing even as they spoke.

Paige and Phoebe stared at Leo, and then turned their attention to their sister in disbelief. At Piper's nod, the sisters stared at each other, as the reality of Chris' fate sank in.

"Oh my god. Oh honey," Phoebe turned to Piper, and enveloped her in a hug. Paige wrapped her arms around her two sisters, offering what comfort she could.

Piper drew in a shaky breath, and stepped out of her sisters' embraces, her arms hugging herself. Leo looked up from his position, his eyes bright with unshed tears. "I don't care. We don't care. Leo and I," Piper explained at her sisters' puzzled glances, holding her hand out to Leo, who rose to take it. Her eyes red and puffy, Piper was through with shedding tears. "We decided. We're going to get him back. Even if we have to go down to Hell ourselves and vanquish every single demon there is."

To be continued...of course!