Chris materialised in the attic right next to where he knew Excalibur had been placed the day before. Quickly he reached for the Magical Sword and pulled it out of the stone as quickly as he could because he could hear Wyatt orbing in behind him. He was so focused on reaching the sword before Wyatt, that it did not even occur to him that it was the first time he had ever actually freed the sword from its home of stone, confirming once and for all that he was its true master. He turned just in time to block Wyatt as he tried to strike him down. Chris could feel the power flow through him, but never having any training with the sword made that extra power boost useless. All he could do was try to block Wyatt's relentless attacks. He thought about orbing out, but knew that Wyatt would only follow him so decided to stay in the confines of the attic, where his parents would know to find him. Chris fought as bravely and as well as he knew how, but unfortunately the battle was a short one. Wyatt had years of training with Excalibur before it was taken away from him, and that training meant Chris was no match for his older brother, even with Excalibur. After being slashed badly in the thigh and the shoulder, Chris finally found himself cornered. Wyatt looked at his brother weakened and in pain and easily knocked Excalibur from his hands. Chris once again considered orbing away, but knew he was probably too weak to travel very far. And Wyatt, who did not have a scratch on him, would probably stop him by grabbing his orbs, as Leo had done years before when he had tried to orb away from him when he returned from Valhalla. He really could see no way out, and so decided to call for his Father.

"Dad," he called as strongly as he could.

By the time Leo, Piper, Paige and Phoebe all orbed in to the attic Wyatt had retrieved Excalibur and was holding Chris against the wall with his left hand around his throat. His right hand was holding Excalibur pointed to Chris' stomach.

"Oh my God, Wyatt no, please!" Piper begged as she started to move closer to her sons.

"Stay back, Mum, I only came for the sword. If you let me go, I won't hurt him." Wyatt told her.

Chris was clearly gasping for air.

"Let him down, Wyatt, you're choking him. Let's talk about this." Leo pleaded.

"The time for talking is long gone, Dad. I want your word that you will let me go, and I will release him." Wyatt shouted to them.

"Okay, okay. Just let him go. I promise we'll allow you to leave." Piper agreed.

"Piper!" Leo protested, but she interrupted him.

"Leo he's killing Chris!"

They all breathed a sigh of relief as Wyatt released his grip around Chris' throat and Chris at the same time gasped desperately for air.

"See, that was easy wasn't it." Wyatt said to them.

Their relief was short lived, however. Helplessly they all watched in horror as Wyatt suddenly and unexpectedly lunged the cold sharp blade of Excalibur into Chris' stomach and then started to orb out at the same time.

Without thinking, her reflexes taking over, Piper motioned her destructive powers toward him and Wyatt rematerialised before being flung back into the wall behind him by a small explosion near his stomach, falling motionless to the floor.

Chris, still conscious and no longer being held up by Wyatt, started sliding down the wall he was leaning on, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Chris!" Piper called as she ran to him.

She dropped down by her younger son's side and told him confidently, "Don't worry, honey, your Dad's going to save you. You'll be fine."

Paige was next to Piper and Phoebe had gone to check on Wyatt.

"Wyatt's unconscious, but alive." Phoebe shouted to them.

"Thank God." Piper said relieved. "Leo, quickly," she said looking up expecting to see Leo behind her, but he wasn't there. Desperately she looked around the room for her husband, but could not see him anywhere.

"Where's Leo?" She asked to Phoebe and Paige.

They were as surprised as Piper to see he wasn't with them.

"Leo! Leo!" Piper screamed desperately. "Where the hell are you!"

"This can't be happening," she mumbled to herself.

Chris coughed next to her. "Hold on Chris, please, just hold on." She begged him, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Leo materialised in a very dark place. He looked around and saw nothing but darkness. "Where am I?" He shouted. "Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"We need to talk," came the reply from a familiar voice behind him.

Leo turned around and could not believe who was walking toward him.

"I thought I'd seen the last of you," Leo said bitterly to Alpha, the Avatar who had now stopped in front of him.

"So had we," he replied.

"Why have you brought me here? My sons are injured, return me to the Manor immediately." Leo demanded.

"Yes, but first we need to talk." Alpha calmly said to him.

"I have nothing to say to you!" Leo replied angrily.

"We did not intend to make contact with you again, but circumstances have changed."

Alpha started to explain, but was interrupted by Leo.

"What do you mean?"

"We will explain everything in good time. For now, we need your word that you will not attack us. We do not wish to fight you, nor hurt you. We just want you to agree to hear our proposal." Alpha told him.

Leo was looking around desperately trying to figure a way out, so he didn't have to listen to them again, be fooled by them again.

"Time is against you Leo, at this moment both your sons are near death. You need to make a decision." Alpha advised him.

"If I don't agree?" Leo asked.

"Then, unfortunately you will not make it back in time to save them." Alpha replied coldly.

"Save them." Leo repeated to himself, the words echoing in his head. Suddenly, reality hit Leo as hard as if he'd been hit by a truck and memories of the spirit board came rushing back to him with the cryptic message "do not save your". Without any more information he could only guess that this was the moment he was not supposed to agree to the Avatars proposal and therefore risk losing his sons in the process. With time not being on his side, Leo decided to call Alpha's bluff just to see his reaction. "I will not make any deals with you again!" He said as firmly as he could.

The look on Alpha's face was one of complete surprise.

"But your sons Leo?"

"I've told you my decision. I'm sick of you manipulating situations to your own advantage."

Alpha looked away for a few seconds as if he was sensing a message from the other Avatars. Then he looked back at Leo. "This is," he paused as if thinking of the right word, and then continued, "unexpected." He said.

Leo didn't move. He remained completely still and silent as he looked at Alpha, who for the first time seemed flustered.

"Fine, we'll do this your way." He said.

Suddenly Leo reappeared in the attic and immediately saw Piper, next to a very badly injured Chris who was leaning up against the wall, Paige was comforting her. Wyatt was sprawled out on the floor unconscious, not far from them with Phoebe next to him.

"Oh, no!" Leo exclaimed as he ran to Piper.

"Leo! Oh thank God!" Piper said through her tears as she saw Leo running toward her.

"Quickly, Leo, heal them." She pleaded with him.

Leo moved over to Chris and went to place his healing hands on the deep wound to his stomach.

Chris, however, pushed them away. "No, Dad. You can't. Remember the message." He said through laboured breaths.

"What's he talking about? What message?" Piper asked.

"Chris, we have no proof that the message was meant to be about you and Wyatt." Leo said. "Just let me heal you –"

Before Leo could finish Chris interrupted, "Dad, who else could it be about?"

"Leo, can't you see he's delirious. Why are you hesitating? He's dying, Leo, both our sons are dying!" Piper said desperately, but trying to stay calm.

"The message from the spirit board said, do not save your," Leo tried to explain.

"You're not seriously telling me that the reason you're not healing Chris and Wyatt is because of that message." Piper uttered incredulously.

"Mum," Chris called weakly.

Piper turned to look at the adult version of her younger son, lying gravely wounded and struggling to breathe.

"Chris, please let your Dad heal you, we'll sort all this out later."

"Dad saving us is what causes the paradox, I'm sure of it." He said trying to sound convincing.

"Chris, how can you be sure? It was a message from a spirit board, it could mean anything." She said as calmly as she could, trying to reason with him.

Chris looked up at his Mother with his piercing green eyes, and said to her confidently, "I've been through this before, and it's not that bad. Don't blame Dad; he's doing the right thing. The only thing." Chris then noticed the man standing behind them all. "Who is he?" He asked.

Nobody had noticed Alpha whohad been standing there all this time.

Piper stood up and faced the Avatar. "Was it you that took Leo away from us? What do you want this time?" She asked angrily.

Alpha ignored Piper and asked Leo, "Why aren't you saving your sons, Leo? They will die soon."

Leo, now starting to get more suspicious of Alpha's motives queried, "Why do you want me to save them? What is it to you?"

"You're wasting time Leo." Alpha said starting to lose his patience.

"Why don't you just heal them yourself?" Leo questioned him,

"We are too weak, Leo. We only have enough power left for one last act."

"Tell me Alpha. Tell me what this is all about." Leo demanded.

"We have a proposal to put to one of your sons, but he has to be alive to hear it."

"Which one?" Leo asked him.

"I've told you enough, Leo, you must make your decision."

"Leo just heal them, please!" Piper begged him desperately, as Chris' breathing started to become very laboured.

Leo looked at Alpha and then looked at his sons.

"I don't understand, why won't you heal them?" Piper asked him, tears streaming down her face.

Leo then made the toughest decision of his life. He knelt down next to Chris, but instead of healing him he gently held his hand. The scene was all too familiar as Chris looked up at his Father who had tears streaming down his cheeks. Chris nodded to him acknowledging that he knew he was making the right decision as Leo gently kissed his forehead and whispered, "I'm sorry, Chris." With the decision made, Chris had no reason to hold on any longer and so finally let go, allowing his body to go limp under Leo's arms.

"No! No! No!" Piper screamed as she leaned her head into Chris' hand she was holding.

She looked over to Phoebe who was next to Wyatt. Phoebe shook her head as she too sobbed, indicating that Wyatt had also died. Paige witnessed everything quietly crying also.

Alpha looked at the scene before him and quietly said, "I suppose it just wasn't meant to be," before he faded away.

Piper, who was now completely inconsolable, stood up and started hitting Leo.

"I will never forgive you for this! Never!" She shouted at him.

With tears rolling down his own cheeks, Leo allowed her to lash out at him. The sting of her words hurt Leo more than anything else had ever hurt him in his life. He could only hope that his decision had been the right one.