Chris appeared seconds later in the manor's attic, and instantly began to search for what he needed.

His heart was racing.

He would finally see her again.

He missed her so much.

There was, of course, the possibility that she would not come. He had tried many times in the past six years with no success…but if Bianca was right, then the powers that be would be wise enough to realize that he really did need to see her.

Chris set the crystals in their formation, and slowly took a step back. Drawing a deep breath, he began to recite the spell.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now the great divide."

The boy stood in silence, staring at the pentagram he had formed, hoping desperately to see a faint glimmer of light.

Nothing happened.

He drew in several sharp breaths and fought back the tears that were now treating to overflow. He had been foolish even to hope.

"Hear these words, hear my cry,

Spirit from the other side,

Come to me, I summon thee,

Cross now the great divide."

Chris closed his eyes and recited the spell again, his voice full of emotion. A brief image of Piper flashed through his mind as he spoke…he could see her…his beautiful, perfect mother…

But when he opened his eyes again, he could the attic remained empty.

He knew she wasn't coming.

Giving a sigh of both sadness and frustration, Chris turned towards the door; a talk with Victor would have to suffice for the moment.

"Maybe if I wasn't such a poor excuse for a witch…" he muttered bitterly as he placed a hand on the brass door knob. "I'm a failure."

"Please don't say that, Chris." A soft voice whispered from across the room. "I'm so proud of you."

Chris turned around abruptly, and he could hardly breathe as he caught sight of the other figure in the room.

"Mom." He cried, running into her embrace, his knees weak with shock. It had worked…he had done it…she was here.

"I miss you so much." He muttered, burying his face in her shoulder- just as he had done so often when he had been a child.

She lovingly stroked his hair, and allowed him a few seconds to gain control of his emotions. Tears were running freely down his face- but for once they were tears of happiness.

"I miss you too Chris." She soothed, placing her hands on his shoulders, and gently pushing him back so that she could see his face. "You're even more handsome up close." She said, smiling up at her youngest son. "A true Halliwell."

He blushed and briefly returned her smile, before retuning to his usual somber expression. "So much had happened Mom." He said quietly "Wyatt-"

"I know." She cut in; knowing that it was painful for him to describe what had taken place. "We've been watching- and we knew awhile ago that he had turned. Phoebe wanted to tell you, but she couldn't. We're not allowed to interfere like that any more…I wish there was something we could have done…"

"It's okay. And Aunt Phoebe did warn me…sort of. I was just too stupid to realize what she meant."

Piper frowned slightly, and led Chris over to the couch were they could sit down. "You're too hard on yourself Chris." She began, sadly looking into his beautiful green eyes; the only trait he had not inherited from her. "You're not stupid. And you're most defiantly not a failure. I know that you blame yourself for what happened, and it hurts me to think that you are putting yourself through so much pain."

"But it is my fault!" he exclaimed "I told Wyatt. I contributed just as much as he did."

"No, Chris." Piper said sadly. "He was the only person responsible. You had no idea, and if had known what he was planning, I know that you would have done anything to stop him. You're good and you always will be."

Chris scoffed, and avoided his mothers gaze. "You can never be certain, can you? I mean, we all thought Wyatt was good too, and look how he turned out."

"I know it hurts you to see Wyatt behave this way, it hurts me too." Piper replied "…but just because he's like this doesn't mean that you will be too. You may be connected by blood…but you have to remember that people are formed by the choices that they make. Wyatt has always chosen aggression- and now he had chosen evil. You've never been like him, Chris; you've always chosen to help. You chose to be a whitelighter- you've chosen good."

There was a long pause as Chris tried to absorb what his mother had said. In some ways, it was what Bianca and Victor had been telling him all along…but somehow, when it came from her- the mother he had always loved- it all made a lot more sense.

He knew that she was right.

He could never choose evil.

"Yes," he whispered, turning to make eye contact with her once again. "I'll never be like Wyatt."

Piper's eyes were full of tears as she looked as her baby boy- she couldn't express in words how proud of him she was at that very moment. He had become such a wonderful young man- so brave, strong and pure. He represented everything she and her sisters had ever fought for…he was the true heir of the Halliwell line.

"Chris," she said sadly, taking his hand in hers "I am so sorry that you are burdened with all of this…I wish I was still here, to help…"

Chris sighed. "I wish you were too. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too, but I watch over you when ever I can…and you have Bianca now. I'm so happy that you found such a wonderful woman. Please don't push her away Chris; you need to be there for her."

"Bianca doesn't need me." He said jokingly, a smile crossing his face "She's pretty self sufficient…scarily so at times."

Piper smiled back. "Yes, I know. But you have to trust me; she's going to need you really

soon."

The boy shot her an inquisitive look. "Let me guess, you're alluding to something that you know, but can't tell me."

"Yes. But this time, it's nothing bad."

Chris shook his head with confusion and took a moment to savor the time he was spending with his mother. After six years the pain of loosing her had not gone away, and he knew that when she left again, his grief would quickly return.

"Mom?" he asked quietly, looking at her with sad eyes. "Do you really have to go back?"

Piper nodded sadly "I'd love nothing more than to say with you forever…but dead people don't really have that option."

"Dad's been dead for eighty years, and he's still here!" Chris exclaimed with frustration. "You and your sisters did so much good…why couldn't you be brought back as whitelighters too?"

"Because, that's not how it works. Our destiny was to become the charmed ones…and we did that…we fulfilled our purpose."

Chris looked sadly down at the floor, feeling stupid for having such a childish outburst.

"Speaking of Leo…" Piper began slowly. "You really need to give him more of a chance Chris. I'm glad to see you two talking again, and working together to help witches in need…but there is still so much you need to work out. He loves you, and I know he was never around much- but he wanted to be, trust me…he's your father, you need to forgive him…"

She trailed off as she caught sight of Chris' annoyed expression.

"Come on." She whispered, giving his hand a tight squeeze. "Try…for me…"

Chris sighed. "Okay, I'll do it for you."

"Good." She glanced up at the ceiling suddenly, and gave a loud sigh. "They're calling me back Chris…please don't forget what I've said. You're not to blame for anything…you need to think of the future and move on with your life. I love you so much, and I know you can find a way to stop Wyatt. Never give up."

Chris nodded slowly and bit back tears as he and Piper stood up and began walking back towards the crystals. "Okay" He choked.

"Good. I love you Chris, you'll always be my little angel." Piper leaned towards him and gave him one final hug. He wished that it could have lasted forever.

She drew back and stepped into the crystal pentagram. "Oh, and Chris…Sam says hi."

"Sam? He's up there with you?" Chris asked with amazement.

"Yes," Piper replied with a small smile. "And he's told us all about the wonderful things you've achieved over the years…he's proud of you too."

Chris nodded and tried not to let his tears overflow. "Tell him I miss him."

"I will. Good bye Chris. I love you." And with that she dissolved into a swirl of beautiful white lights.

"Love you too Mom." Chris called, as the last of the lights dissipated, leaving him alone in the attic once again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Bianca shimmered down into an abandoned cavern in the underworld. She had been coming down here whenever she needed to release her pent up rage over the past month- she hated to see Chris suffer like this, at the hands of his own brother- and the darklighters that had assisted him. Since she had no hope of finding, let alone defeating Wyatt, she had decided to take revenge on every darklighter she came across.

So far, she had quite a good success rate.

She crouched down behind a nearby rock and waited in silence. She had discovered that they often traveled through this cavern, and she knew that if she waited long enough she was bound to annihilate at least a few.

Sure enough, after only a minute, three large and brutish looking darklighters sauntered in, talking and joking loudly.

"I'm gonna get one for myself, and watch as it burns to death slowly." The largest of the three chuckled, his mud brown eyes glinting maliciously.

"Good luck with that." Another muttered. "I bet the humans will be the ones doing most of the witch burning…once Lord Wyatt exposes them, the humans won't rest till they're dead."

The big darklighter shrugged. "Well, either way, they'll all be dead."

Bianca gave a small gasp as she listened to their conversation. She was yet to figure out what Wyatt was planning next…she had many theories, but it had never occurred to her that he would expose magic to the human world.

What the hell would that achieve?

Witches.

Burned.

Of course. Wyatt must have realized that if he exposed witches, then the humans would do his dirty work for him…they had always feared what they could not understand…and they would not hesitate to eliminate anything that that saw as a threat. Bianca gave an involuntary shudder at the thought. They'd come after her…after Chris. She knew that she could not allow this to happen.

She averted her attention back to the darklighters, noticing that their conversation had come to an abrupt stop. The largest one had closed his eyes and he appeared to be trying to sense something…her heart began to beat faster…maybe they would be able to sense her…

"Whitelighter." He hissed suddenly, opening his eyes and glancing around the cave. "I sense whitelighter."

"Impossible." One of the others replied. "We've killed them all."

The darklighter frowned "Not all."

Bianca was too shocked to leave. There must have been a whitelighter somewhere in the room…she had to do something before it was too late.

"Hey." She called, stepping out from behind the rock. She tried to adopt a calm demeanor- the one she had used when she had gone on missions with her coven. "Which one of you wants to die first?"

All three turned around, evidently surprised to see a girl standing there, threatening them with their deaths. "Who are you?" the one on the right growled, taking a few steps towards her. "A whitelighter?"

She laughed. "Far from it." And with that she shimmered towards him, athame in hand, and stabbed him in the gut before he could so much as blink an eye.

The other two stared at her in shock as their comrade crumbled to the floor in a pile of ash. "Whose next?" she asked, her face set with a cruel grin. She may not have liked being a hired assassin, but killing demons could still give her a thrill- especially when those demons were a threat to someone she loved.

One of the darklighters took that as a cue to dark orb out, and she watched in disgust as the coward ran away.

Only the large darklighter was left now- the one who had been doing the sensing. He did not move from his spot, but rather stared at Bianca in awe. "You shimmer. But I sense whitelighter." He muttered, obviously trying to make sense of the situation in his unfortunately small brain.

Bianca stared back at him for several seconds, confused by his remark. "Nope, not me." She replied, coming back to her senses. Bianca took two large steps toward him before he had any time to react, and he soon joined the other vanquished darklighter as a smoking pile of ash on the cave floor.

The girl stood in silence, starring down at the two piles. What he had said made no sense…she was most defiantly not a whitelighter…but she could tell now, from her own sensing, that no one else was in the room. There was only her. He had he had sensed something…from her…in her.

She gasped.

No.

It wasn't possible.

Without another moment's hesitation, Bianca shimmered out of the cave.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Wyatt nodded somberly as the darklighter finished telling him about a strange girl that had vanquished two of his companions. From the description he could safely guess that the girl was Bianca- and that was most defiantly not a good thing.

The darklighter said that they had been discussing his desire to expose witches to the human world…and, assuming that she had been hiding in the room, this meant that Bianca had now heard at least a fraction of his plan. She would undoubtedly tell Chris, who would then tell their idiot father and all of the witches he could find…Wyatt knew that time was now working against him.

"I am glad you had the sense to report this." Wyatt muttered, not bothering to look up at the demon. "We will now have to go ahead with the plan, earlier than I had intended."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N Phew. That took me a while to write, hope it was ok. This will be either the last or second last update for awhile, I have exams next week, and I really should study…gah, school sucks sometimes. (Just some friendly advice to anyone who is reading this- don't take anthropology in University- it's boring as hell) I'm bitter, can you tell? ;)

Queen Isa- Wow, my longest review yet! I'm glad you like my version of Wyatt- the way I see it, if he manages to take over the world, he must be somewhat smart. Also glad you liked the bit from the Prince, and thanks for the quote, I don't think it fits with Wyatt, but maybe with the resistance (actually, it may have fit better somewhere near the beginning of the story). I may try to work it in. Happy to hear that you like history too (I'm a history major) I don't know much about Eastern Europe…my focus is the West (France and England) and I am planning to use a few more sources in this story- possibly something related to Louis XIV/ absolutism, and Thomas Hobbes…but if you find anymore cool stuff, don't hesitate to tell me. Thanks!

phoebe turner- Umm, well, I'd say its clear form the show that Wyatt will succeed….but as for Chris being seen as the bad guy, you have to wait and find out! Thanks for another review!

ilovedrew88- Glad it was understandable, hope you liked the Piper-ness in this chapter! And yes, there is much craziness to come.

Chris Drew Lover- I've always thought Wyatt was smart- an idiot, no matter how powerful, cannot maintain power for long (see, for example, Louis XVI). So if Wyatt is as successful as Chris on the show says he is, then I figure that he's pretty damn smart. Like I've said before, I don't like it when fic writers create very hollow, stereotypically evil Wyatt's…that's boring…so I'm attempting something different. Thanks for yet another review!