Mistake

Chapter One

A/N: This story takes place right after the episode Prince Charmed. The CO's know that Chris is half-witch now but not much else about him. Unlike the episode, they did not take the revelation well.

"His blood is spilt

His heart is wrought

His intentions good

Yet trust is lost.

Let them feel as he felt.

Let them see as he sought.

Let them know what he knew.

Let them owe what they ought.

They shall see what they must

To once more again trust.

Yet, as the magic which flows through his veins,

It keeps a deep secret

And so let it secret remain."

She recited the spell in a tone which spoke of long experience, thinking hard of the person it was written for, and, when finished, crumpled the paper it was written on in a frustrated fist. It was simply ridiculous that she had to do this to begin with.

She was a Guardian. A protector. Yet, even in this time she couldn't keep her charge safe. Of course, it didn't help that her charge was rebellious by nature.

She had discouraged him from making this journey to the past. She had argued that he shouldn't compromise himself for people that had only made his life hell in his own time. It had taken a lot out of her to make this argument, but she had done it anyway. She couldn't stand the way he had been treated, regardless of those who had committed the acts against him.

He had, predictably, ignored her. She could do little to stop him. She existed only to guide and protect him, not manage his life and make decisions for him. So they had come here, to the past, where he was once again scorned and treated with little respect, despite all he had sacrificed to help.

Prue Halliwell, former witch and Charmed One, and current Guardian to Christopher Perry just sighed discontentedly and disappeared in a small flash of light, content now just to watch the effects of her spell take place.

Chis Perry, or, as he was more commonly known, the neurotic Whitelighter from the future, touched his bruised cheek and winced. The girls and Leo had not taken the fact that he was half-Witch well. Leo had been the most angry, hitting Chris roundly across the face, leaving the bruise which had now formed painfully unhealed.

Thinking back, Chris didn't know why he was so surprised that it had happened. Why should he have expected any sympathy? After all, it was only his fiancé that had just died by the hands of the child he had made so many sacrifices to protect.

The thought of Bianca only made Chris choke back a sob. She had been the love of his life. The only happiness in the dark future that Wyatt had destroyed with his constant struggle for power. And then, Wyatt had even managed to destroy that. Turning Bianca evil once more, only to send her after him, steal his powers, and take him back to the future.

The only thing that kept Chris from falling even deeper into despair was the fact that there was still hope. Bianca had died protecting Chris, saving his life so he could go back and finish what he started. Change the future for them and their love.

But when he had gotten back, thanks to a handy spell the sisters had placed under the floorboard, he was greeted only with anger and distrust.

Flashback

Chris flew through the time portal, rolling on the ground and hitting his head hard. He winced and picked his head up, only to be met in the face with an angry fist. He flew backwards and flung his hand out, hoping to throw whatever demon was in the attic into a wall. He heard a thump and looked up with a satisfied face.

Instead, he was shocked to find Leo regaining his footing and taking a threatening step toward him once again. Chris closed his eyes disbelievingly and prepared himself for whatever Leo would do next. Thankfully, Phoebe placed a gentle hand over Leo's and got him to calm down.

Chris stood up and regarded them with weary eyes.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," Piper said in an angry voice. Chris looked down.

"I know."

Piper snorted in disbelief. "You know Chris, if you had just been honest with us this wouldn't be a problem. You should have told us you were part-Witch from the start."

Chris stared at the ground. "I was afraid that you wouldn't trust me if you knew."

This time it was Phoebe who spoke. "Damn right, we wouldn't trust you. Hell Chris, we don't have any idea what kind of powers you have, you were engaged to a Phoenix Assassin Witch, and you've lied to us. How do we know you aren't some evil Witch, attempting to steal Wyatt for yourself?"

Chris looked up desperately. "No, no. That's not the way it is. You have to believe me. I came back only to help Wyatt, to save him."

Piper made an angry sound. "We don't need your help Chris. My son is perfectly fine and will remain so. I want you gone."

"I'm sorry," Chris muttered and orbed out.

Only Paige had remained quiet.

End Flashback

Chris had orbed to his own personal safe place. An apartment he had kept secret from the sisters and maintained the rent for with the small amount of money had brought with him from the future. It was small, but nice enough for a single person who wasn't there very often, living at the club most of the time.

He cleaned up his face and then started on the rest of him, grimacing at the sight of Bianca's blood, which stained his skin and clothes. He pushed thoughts of her out of his head. Grieving wouldn't do him any good right now.

He put on clean clothes and, stumbling over to the bed, fell asleep. Memories of Bianca haunted his dreams, and he cried as he slept.

Paige shook her head, sighing angrily. She had not liked the way that her sisters and Leo had treated Chris when he had returned from the future. Couldn't they see the pain that he was in? He had just lost the love of his life. Even Phoebe, an empath, had ignored his obvious despair and badgered him.

"Come on Paige, he completely lied to us. He's not even really a Whitelighter," Phoebe was trying to convince Paige that they had been in the right and Paige wasn't having it. "Doesn't that make you angry?"

"Sure it does Pheebs, but he just watched his fiancé die, and we all just sat by and let Leo beat him up."

"It was one punch Paige, and he deserved it."

Paige held up her hand. "He did not deserve to come flying back from a future where the love of his life is killed right in front of him only to be greeted by Leo's fist and our accusations. I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve them at all, just not in that manner. After all, he saved our lives during that Titan thing. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

This time it was Piper who grunted. "We saved his ass, all debts are repaid. He had his own agenda Paige. You need to accept that and move on. I severely doubt that we will be seeing him again anyway."

Paige was about to respond when all three of the sisters simultaneously felt a pain in their stomach, almost like they were being punched.

"What the hell was that?" Piper asked, holding her stomach which was now tender, though there were no marks to show that she had been wounded in any way.

Phoebe however wave her silent. "I'm feeling something. It's odd. It feels like fear and sadness..."

And then they all felt it. Paige felt tears on her face all of a sudden and realized she was crying for whoever felt this way. Piper looked stricken. That was when they heard the voice.

"Damn it Chris," the voice was angry, and male. They heard a small whimper and realized it was Chris. "Can't you do anything right?"

They heard a smack and all of them brought a hand to the back of their head where it now stung. They looked at each other wide eyed and then heard another thump. They felt a stinging all on their side. They winced.

"You're a complete and utter failure," the voice was even angrier now. "Worse than that, you're a mistake. You never should have happened. You're worthless. Do you hear me? WORTHLESS!"

They heard a crash, like glass and then felt a fire on the skin on their left hand, almost as though they had been cut open, though there were no marks to indicate that such a thing had actually happened.

"I'm sorry daddy," this time the voice was young, small, and timid. It was obvious the boy had been crying. "I'm sorry."

The girls all looked at each other, shocked, as the voices retreated, and the room eventually was cleared of all the suppressed emotions. Eventually, the pain too receded.

Paige found her voice first, wiping her wet face off first. The fear and the pain had just been far too real. "What was that do you think?"

Piper and Phoebe stared at each other and then Phoebe said, "I don't know. Do you think Chris is in trouble?"

"No," Paige answered quietly. "The voice sounded too young to be the Chris we know, but I'm willing to bet it was Chris, just at a much younger age."

"This could just be a trick you know," Piper said. "Perhaps Chris created some kind of fake memory or something and is trying to get us to feel sorry enough for him that we'll help him."

Phoebe snorted. "I say we summon him here and see for ourselves."

"Try to be gentle," Paige said. "If that memory was real, and he has nothing to do with us receiving it, then he actually experienced what happened and it might hurt him to be reminded of it."

"CHRIS!" Piper called. "CHRIS! WE NEED YOU!"

They waited for a few seconds and then shrugged. "Summoning spell?" Phoebe suggested and Paige nodded.

"Sounds good. You'd better set up a crystal cage in case he's not in the mood to talk."

Phoebe sat down for a couple minutes while her sisters made a crystal circle and wrote something out then nodded her head. "Looks workable. Here."

The three leaned over the paper and read,

"We call to thee

We call you near

Future boy

We call you here."

Paige looked at Phoebe disbelievingly. "Wow Pheebs, way to be respectful. Future boy?"

"Hey, how many people from the future can there be that are here right now?" Phoebe asked defensively.

Suddenly the air near the crystals shimmered and Chris appeared, swaying slightly on his feet.

The sisters gasped as they saw the physical manifestations of what they had felt earlier on Chris's body. His hand was cut open and bleeding, and his tank top displayed the fact that his entire side was bruised. He had his bleeding hand covering his stomach protectively, and the bruise Leo had given him earlier was displayed prominently on his face.

Paige felt tears spring to her eyes as she saw the feral expression that was hidden deep within the half-witch's otherwise emotionless green eyes. The feral expression which stemmed from a history of abuse and neglect, something she had seen often in the children she had met as a social worker.

She quickly moved forward and deactivated the crystal cage, not willing to keep such a person captive against there will. Chris gazed at her defensively and stayed where he was.

"What do you need?" he asked callously. "Why did you do this to me?"

The sisters eyes widened. He thought that they had done it?

Paige moved forward. "Oh honey..."

"Don't call me that," he hissed finally moving, taking a step away from her. "Haven't you all done enough?"

Piper was about to respond when Chris suddenly hissed and dropped to his knees in pain. A few seconds later the sisters realized why as they felt the emotions from earlier enter the room again, and suddenly they heard the voices again.

"I'm sorry mom," it was Chris's voice again, sounding older than last time they had heard it. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

A woman's voice, vaguely familiar, yet somehow masked answered him. "It's always an accident with you Christopher. You need to learn to take responsibility for your actions. Sometimes I think you're a failure."

A smack sounded and the sisters winced as they saw the present Chris's face flush red and saw a hand print form.

"You don't understand mom," Chris's voice was desperate. "It wasn't really my fault..."

The woman answered him harshly. "Suddenly changing your tune now Chris? Don't you dare try to pin this on your brother."

"But mom..."

"SHUT UP!"

Chris was thrown backwards suddenly by some invisible force. He landed on his arm and it looked like it was now at an odd angle. The sisters all grimaced as they felt a somewhat muted form of the pain a few seconds later.

The attic began to empty of the emotions once again and the sisters felt the pain soon alleviate, Chris however lay in a heap and didn't move.

"Chris?" Piper asked tentatively, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. He flinched back, then stood up, cradling his now obviously broken arm.

"Stay away from me," he said tightly, then regarded the sisters. "You need to find the demon who is doing this. Look for some kind of demon who reanimates memories or something."

Paige spoke softly. "I think we need to take care of you first. LEO! LEO! GET YOUR ELDER BUTT DOWN HERE!"

She waited but Leo didn't come. She sighed and Chris said bitterly, "He probably knows you're calling about me. He won't come."

Paige opened her mouth to say something but stopped when there was a flash of light and a woman appear. A woman with black hair and an extremely familiar face. Piper and Phoebe gasped as though they had seen a ghost. Which they had...in a manner of speaking. Paige realized why a few minutes later. This woman was-somehow-Prue. The older sister she had never met.