Chapter 11

They were now on the Golden Gate Bridge. They saw Chris sitting there, staring at the traffic below.

Chris never remembered feeling so sad and alone in his life. Leo had been the only one left that still trusted him after he revealed Wyatt was evil in his future. While it was more important for Chris' mission that the sisters trust him, it meant a lot to him that Leo did.

When Chris first came to the past, he was nursing a huge grudge against Leo. It seemed like Chris had always come last with his father. As a child growing up, Leo often missed Chris' birthdays, baseball games, and other important events in his life. He would make promises to attend and then in turn have to break them because the Elders would need him or some whitelighter was having problems that required Leo's assistance. Leo always seemed to make time for Wyatt though.

What Chris did not know was that the only reason the Elders allowed Leo to stay with his family was to guide Wyatt and ensure that he would ultimately be a force of good, a task at which Leo ultimately failed. Wyatt was always causing trouble, even from a young age. After the death of their mother, Wyatt became completely uncontrollable.

For Chris, the perceived rejection of him by his father when he was sent to live with his grandfather was extremely painful. Chris had always longed for his father's attention. After being sent away, Chris began to resent him. He felt any attempt Leo made to see him or help him he was merely doing out of obligation. Deep down, Chris wanted a relationship with his father. He wanted him to start paying attention to him.

After Leo realized that Wyatt could no longer be reached, Chris felt Leo was only then showing an interest in him because he lost Wyatt. But Chris did not want to be a consolation prize and he refused his father's offers of help.

Since Chris had arrived in the past, Leo was paying more attention to him than he ever had while he was growing up. At first, it was Leo following him because he was suspicious of Chris. Chris found that he enjoyed all the attention he was getting from his dad, for whatever reason he was getting it. When Leo wasn't following Chris, Chris was looking for Leo.

After an incident in which they both fell through a time portal and Chris ended up saving Leo, their relationship improved. Leo realized that Chris didn't want him harmed and he began to trust him. At the time, Chris had not even thought that saving Leo meant saving himself (since he had not been conceived yet). It had happened too quickly. He saved him because, he realized, he cared about his father. That night after getting home, for the first time in Chris' life, they sat down and had a drink and just hung out together. From that point on they began to have the kind of relationship Chris had always hoped to have with his father. Leo was paying attention to Chris in a good way and they were spending time together, just hanging out. When Bianca injured Chris, it was Leo that took care of him. Leo even defended Chris to the sisters after he saved Wyatt from the Order.

Then Leo caught Chris using a demon to scan Wyatt for evil and all that changed. Chris never remembered Leo being so angry at him as he was when he caught Chris in Wyatt's room using a demon to scan Wyatt for evil. For the first time in his life, he had been feeling like Leo really cared about him. He was afraid he had now lost that.

Leo orbed on to the bridge beside Chris. Chris jumped to his feet as Leo's orb cloud settled.

"Leo, I'm sorry. Please believe me, the demon wouldn't have hurt Wyatt. I was trying to help…"

"I know," Leo said coldly, "but your solutions are making things worse. I haven't forgotten that you sent me to Valhalla. I still don't know why you felt you needed me out of the way, but I dropped it because I know you didn't want me harmed and I figured there was an important reason for you to get me out of the way."

"I wasn't going to leave you there," Chris said, sadly.

"So now you're finally admitting that it was you that sent me there? I knew it, but I couldn't really prove it before."

"It was a mistake, okay? I just…I was afraid if you found out that I wasn't a real whitelighter, you'd send me back." Chris continued, "I know. I screwed everything up. I'm trying to fix it, but…you need to get Piper back."

"What?" Leo asked as Chris turned the conversation. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's just…it's what I feel most badly about. If I hadn't sent you away, you two would have got back together. You were supposed to get back together."
Leo nodded sadly, and somewhat pissed at Chris, "Well, it's too late for that now."
"No! It's not!" Chris insisted. "Your family needs you, Leo. You and Piper, well, I mean…didn't you two want to raise Wyatt together? Have more kids?" Chris was rambling right now and he knew it. But he was getting scared. If what the Seer had said was right, his time was running short.

Leo became thoughtful. Speaking low, he said, "Piper and I getting back together at this point would be a mistake. And as for having more kids, with our lives, would be a disaster."

Chris became more despondent than ever.

Leo got back to the point. "Look, I know you mean well, Chris, but your methods are dangerous. You are causing more problems for us. I'm going to speak to the other Elders concerning what to do about you."

With that, Leo orbed out, leaving Chris alone and despondent.

They were in the office at P3 now.

Chris was entering the office. He never remembered feeling so alone and miserable in his life. His own family hated him—including his mother and father. Chris began thinking that maybe all those years as he was growing up, they merely tolerated him because he was their son.

He was ready to grab some liquor that was stored in the back of the room when Phoebe entered.

"Hey," she greeted him, shutting the door behind her.

"Hey. So, did you come here to kick me out?" he asked, racking his brain at the same time trying to figure out where he could possibly go. That is, until he completely ceased to exist.

"No. I came to ask you a question.'
"What?"

"I need you to be honest with me. No games, no running away. Just the truth."
Chris, desperate for someone to trust him, simply nodded and said, "Okay."

Phoebe took a breath, then asked, "Are you Wyatt's little brother?"

Chris was somewhat taken back. He wasn't expecting that. He paused for a moment, then admitted, "Only if I can get Piper and Leo back together in time."

Phoebe nodded and smiled.

Chris plopped down on the couch as Phoebe asked, "Why didn't you tell us the truth, Chris?"

"I couldn't," he said. "I know how my dad…Leo is. He would've sent me back the moment he found out who I was. As it is…" he paused. He looked at Phoebe. "I ruined everything. My own parents hate me…"
"They don't hate you, Chris," Phoebe tried consoling him, walking over. "As soon as they find out who you are…"
"They can't!" Chris insisted.

"Look, Chris, I really think they need to know."

"Phoebe, I haven't even been conceived yet. I may cease to exist. I screwed up, okay? I screwed up and now I might never be born…"

"If they know, I'm sure they'll be happy about it. Once they get used to it," she tried saying.

"My dad doesn't even want me. He told me another kid would be a disaster…"

"I'm sure he won't feel that way once he finds out, Chris. I mean, I'm sure the thought of another kid is scary to him, but once he knows that he is supposed to have another son and that he's known you for a year now…"

"He'll hate it," said Chris. "Just like he hates me."

"I'm sure Leo wasn't like that to you in the future."

Chris hung his head down. "He didn't want me then either." Then, "Look, I…I need to go. There are some things I need to do."

"What things?"

"Just…things," he said, getting up. "Phoebe, you can't tell anyone that Piper and Leo are my parents."

"But…" she began.

"Phoebe, please?" he begged.

Reluctantly, she sighed, "Okay. But we need to talk more about this soon…"

"Fine," he said, orbing out.