A second chance?
Author's Note: I changed the fact that Piper moves to Magic School. She still lives in the manor.
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Hope you like this chappie too.
Chapter 2: Believe me
Chris orbed into the kitchen of the manor and sat down on one of the chairs. It was in the middle of the night and everyone was asleep. It was unnaturally quiet in the house and Chris really didn't mind. If there was one thing he didn't need right now then it was one of his aunts or his mom telling him he should talk with Leo. And he knew that they would do that. Especially his mom.
"Chris?"
Chris looked up from the counter and blinked repeatedly when someone turned on the lights in the room. A second later Piper was at his side with a worried expression on her face. "Are you allright?" she asked her son.
Chris nodded unconvicable. He wasn't allright, quite the opposite actually, and he knew that his mother could see that. She had always been able to see right through him. But he didn't want her to worry about him, it would make everything even harder. His grandpa had told him he should enjoy the time he had with her as long as he can, but leaving her again would be just more difficult if he get close to her.
Piper sat beside him and put a hand on his arm. "You know, he tries really hard" she said calmly, knowing what was bothering her son.
Chris groaned slightly. He had known it. "I really don't want to talk about it."
"Chris, he's your father. You have to talk to him" Piper tried to convince him.
"No, I don't" Chris said coldly.
"Well, I'm your mother and when I say..."
"I won't talk to him!" Chris interrupted her angrily. A second later he regretted it when he saw the hurt look on his mother's face. He sighed before he added "It's not like he really wants to get to know me. He just can't stand the thought that someone actually thinks bad about him."
"I think he can't stand the thought that it's his own son who thinks so bad about him" Piper said gently.
"Then he has to find a way to deal with it, because I too had to deal with the fact that my own father hates me and I didn't even know why" Chris shot back. He couldn't let go of the pain and anger towards Leo.
Piper was shocked that he seemed to think that Leo hated him. "Honey, your father doesn't hate you. How can you think that?"
"Maybe because he acted like that" Chris snapped again. He couldn't stop himself even though it wasn't fair to his mother. Before she could say anything he stood up from the chair. "Look, I don't really care about Leo and what he feels for me. I accepted it a long time ago that I'll never have a dad and I'm fine with it. So just drop it, okay?" He orbed away before Piper could stop him.
Once he was gone, Leo stepped into the kitchen and Piper looked at him uncomfortable. He had obviously heard what Chris had said and she could see that he was hurt. "Leo..." she started to say, but didn't know how to continue. What should she say? The only one who could ease her husband's pain was too mad at him to even talk with him.
"I just can't understand how I could become the way I am in Chris' future" Leo said quietly, looking down on his shoes.
"I can't either" Piper said with a small smile. "And it didn't happen yet, you still have a second chance, Leo" she added and put her hands on her stomach, where baby Chris had just kicked her.
Leo walked over to her and hesitantly put a hand on her stomach too. He knew that Piper was usually mad if someone did this, but this time she didn't seem to mind. He smiled at her gratefully. "I know that I have a chance with little Chris here, but I also want to get to know his other self." He paused a second, then he added "Did that sound weird to you too?"
Piper chuckled and nodded. Then she became serious again. "You just can't give up, Leo. He's just as stubborn as you are."
Leo sighed and nodded. He knew that she was right.
3 months later (It's a bad, bad, bad, bad world; a few things changed, Leo and Chris still don't get along...)
It was late in the night and Chris was sitting in the library in magic school, searching for a spell or a potion that would send him back to the future. They had saved Wyatt and now it was time for him to go home. But truth be told, he didn't feel like he was going home. He didn't know how his life will look like in the future, if his family will be there and if his mom will be still alive. The last thought scared him. It had been so hard for him to lose her and loosing her for a second time would probably kill him. He would rather want to stay here in the past where she was still alive – where he felt home.
Trying to keep himself from thinking about this he stood up from the chair. He walked down the hallway to clear his head a bit. He had already a headache from the whole research he did in the last hours.
"The boy has to die."
Startled and confused Chris looked at the door to Gideon's office. Was that the elder who had said that? He stepped closer to the door and listened carefully.
"We have to force them to use our spell."
What spell? What the hell was Gideon talking about? And to whom was he talking to?
"That much power in one being is bound to turn him evil."
Turn him evil? Chris couldn't understand what was going on, but he knew that Gideon was talking about Wyatt. But the elder had said something like 'the boy has to die'. A lump formed in his throat when he considered this idea. Did Gideon want to kill Wyatt?
"We have to get those that protect him out of the way, starting with Leo and Chris."
Chris couldn't believe it. Was it Gideon all the time? The one who turned his brother? Suddenly he grew furious. Gideon had acted like he wanted nothing else than to help them, to save Wyatt. And now he found out that this damn elder was planning to kill his brother. He wanted to open the door and beat the hell out of him, kill him before he could get to Wyatt, but he was stopped from his father's voice coming from behind him.
"Chris? What are you doing there?"
Chris spun around and glared at Leo. He wanted to explain his father what his 'friend' was up to, but then the door opened and Gideon appeared next to them. "Hello Chris, Leo. Did you already find something that can take you back to the future?" he asked with a concerned face.
Chris had to suppress the urge to kill him right there and then, but he knew that he didn't have the power to do it. Thinking quickly, he decided to tell Leo about it. "Leo, can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, trying to keep the fury out of his voice.
"Sure" Leo answered, still eager to make things better between him and his son. In the last months he had tried everything to get close to Chris, but his son refused stubbornly. Leo already feared that he would return to the future before they could talk about everything. But maybe now Chris had finally realized it that he really cared. "What is it, son?" he asked with a small smile.
Normally Chris would be mad at his father for calling him son, but now he didn't have time to think about his issues with Leo. He glanced shortly over to Gideon, who stared at him with a worried expression on his face. Chris wasn't sure if he just tried to play the concerned-elder-and-friend role or if he was really worried because he knew that Chris had heard what he had been talking about in his office. Quickly he turned over to Leo. "Can we talk alone? I need to tell you something before I leave. I mean, I did what I had to do, I saved Wyatt and now I'm going back to the future and I just want to talk with you a bit before I leave" he rambled, making sure that the elder wouldn't become suspicious.
Leo's whole face lit up when he heard his son saying that. He nodded and smiled. "Sure, we can talk. Gideon, can you excuse us?" he asked his mentor politly.
Gideon nodded, also smiling. "Of course. We will talk tomorrow about the spell to send Chris back to the future" he said, before going back into his office.
"So, what..." Leo started to say, but was quickly cut off.
"Not here" Chris said in a warning tone and grabbed his father's arm. He orbed them to the attic from the manor where he immediately let go of him again and knocked the table next to him over with his telekinesis powers. He hadn't been able to stop himself, he was just too upset.
"Chris! What are you doing?" Leo asked stunned.
Chris breathed heavily to calm himself, but didn't really succeed. "Gideon wants to kill Wyatt! He's the one who was after him all this time!" he yelled angrily.
"What?" Leo gasped surprised. "Chris, what the hell are you talking about?"
Chris told him about everything he had heard a few minutes ago, still not able to believe it himself. How could he had missed it? He had been looking for the one who turned his brother for over a year and hadn't noticed it what had been right before his eyes. But Gideon was an elder, he had the perfect cover. But soon he would be nothing else than a pile of ashes, Chris promised himself.
Leo stared at his son in disbelief. Gideon wanted to kill Wyatt? But that wasn't possible. He was an elder and most importantly his friend. He would never do something like this. "Chris, Gideon is an elder" he voiced his thoughts carefully. "He..."
"He wants to murder your son!" Chris interrupted him angrily.
"That's not possible" Leo contradicted. "He always helped me and your mom and he was also almost the only one who was happy for me when Wyatt was born. The other..."
"He. Wants. To. Kill. Wyatt" Chris repeated almost yelling.
Leo sighed. "Why are you doing this, Chris? Do you think I'll quit if you say something like this about an elder? Is that the reason? That you want me to be there for you this time around?"
Chris groaned frustrated. "No! This isn't about me! And it's not about you either! It's about Wyatt and your damn elder friend who wants to kill him! Why do you never believe me?"
"So it's never about you, right?" Leo said sarcastically at his son's last sentence. A second later he realized his mistake when Chris' eyes were filled one more time with hurt. What the hell had he been thinking saying this to him? "Chris, I just..."
"Save it" Chris cut him off. "Like I said, it's not about me. It's never and I'm fine with it. But I wouldn't have thought that you would let Wyatt suffer because you don't give a damn about me."
"I do care about you, Chris. And Wyatt isn't in danger anymore. We vanquished the demons who turned him in your time" Leo said gently.
Chris shook his head furiously. "No, we didn't. Because it wasn't a demon. It was Gideon."
"That's not possible. Gideon would never harm Wyatt" Leo replied convinced.
Chris tried not to let his anger and betrayel show, but it was hard. "Listen to me, he wants to kill Wyatt. I've heard him. And I'll kill him." Leo gasped at this and wanted to say something, but Chris continued. "I won't let him hurt my brother. I've been through too much in the last year to give up now. I'll save him no matter what."
"Gideon – "
"Wants to kill him" Chris finished, for what seemed like the hundreth time to him.
"Look, I know that..." Leo tried it again, but was again cut off.
"I understand. I understand that you hate me and that you would like to ignore me all the time, but don't let Wyatt pay for whatever you have against me" Chris growled. "I know that you never believed me in my entire life, but right now Wyatt's life is at stake! You have to believe me!"
Leo could see the pleading look in his son's eyes, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe that his mentor was trying to kill Wyatt. "Chris, I want to believe you – really. But maybe you just get something wrong and..." He stopped talking when Chris lashed out with his hand and throw him over the floor.
"You damn bastard!" Chris yelled outraged. "I can't believe it! Never in my life have I believed that you would let someone hurt Wyatt just because you hate me that much that..."
"I don't hate you" Leo groaned when he stood up from the floor.
"Whatever" Chris snapped before he orbed away. If his father didn't want to help him, he had to find a way to kill Gideon alone. There was no way in hell he would let the elder murder or traumatize his brother.
TBC...