Love and Fear

Chapter 5: We'll protect him

Chris had never felt so much fear in his entire life. He had already lost his mom once and he had just barely got over it. When he had seen her the first time after he had arrived here in the past he had had to gather all his self-control not to run up to her and hug her. It had been so hard for him, being in her nearness again and having her looking at him with distrust and hatred. But now it didn't matter to him anymore. It wasn't important if she hated him or not, he just didn't want to lose her again.

"Mom..." he sobbed again and stroked her hair away from his 'mother's' face.

Piper, who finally understood that Barbas was doing this, quickly knelt next to Chris and grabbed him by his shoulders. "Chris, listen to me. This is not real. You have to snap out of this" she said firmly and waited for a response.

Chris looked up when he felt someone touching him but he couldn't see anyone. He ignored it and looked back at his 'mom'. "I'm so sorry..."

"CHRIS!" Piper yelled, panic evident in her voice. She turned frantically over to her husband and sisters. "Help me!"

Leo immediately knelt next to his wife and son. "You mean Barbas is doing this to him?" he asked Piper.

Piper nodded and shook Chris slightly. "Chris, please, this isn't real..."

Chris once had the strange feeling that someone was shaking him but again he couldn't see anyone. "Dad?" he asked with a bit hope in his voice. Elders could turn invisible so maybe his dad was still here to heal his mom. But why would he be invisible?

When Barbas felt the slight hope from the boy he quickly said "He isn't here. Your father hates you. He will never come if you need him. That's the reason why your mother died. You tried to call for him to heal her but he never came because he hates you."

His words immediately took effect and all the hope Chris had felt just a second ago vanished again, leaving him with the harsh realization that he was really responsible that his mother had died. If he wouldn't be such a bad kid than maybe his father would like him enough to answer his calls when he needed him so desperately. It was all his fault...

"Maybe we should try a spell to snap him out of this" Paige suggested while Piper still tried to shake her son to his senses.

"No, it won't work" Phoebe said. "He has to overcome his fear by himself."

"Chris please, come on you can do this, I know it" Leo said as he too squeezed his son's arm slightly.

Chris jerked a bit when he felt the squeez. But he didn't even think about it. The sight of his dead 'mother' was just too much for... Dead mother? Suddenly Chris felt a lot of hope coming over him. She couldn't be dead. If she would then he would have disappeared already. "DAD! DAD PLEASE, MOM NEEDS YOU!" he screamed up at the ceiling, hoping that Leo would come if he knew that Piper was in trouble.

"I'm here Chris" Leo said, trying to get through to his son. "And your mom is fine."

"Yeah, she's right here Chris" Phoebe also chimed in.

"DAD!" Chris yelled again while he frantically searched for any sign that his 'mother' was still alive.

"Chris it's okay, everything's okay" Piper tried to calm him and hugged him tightly.

Chris immediately felt her presence. He looked down at his 'mother' and saw that she wasn't breathing. She was really dead. A huge wave of relief came over him. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that this person in his arms wasn't his mom or else he would be gone too. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the familiar feeling of his real mother's embrace. When he opened them again he could see his aunts standing there with worried faces while his parents were kneeling beside him, telling him that everything was okay.

"Mom!" Chris cried out and his family was getting really desperate because they thought that he was again talking with the Piper from his vision. That was until Chris wrapped his arms around his mother and burried his head in her shoulder. "Mom, I'm sorry... I didn't want to yell at you..."

"It's okay Chris" Piper quickly tried to assure him, reliefed that her son had snapped out of it.

"No, it's not... I almost killed you" Chris sobbed, still thinking of the fear vision he had just lived through.

"You're so overdramatic" Paige said sarcastically, trying to lighten up the mood.

Piper pulled slightly away from her son so that she could look him into his eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong, baby. It was all Barbas' fault. You were upset and I certainly understand that you lashed out. It's okay."

"But..."

"No buts" Piper cut him off before she once again hugged him. "I'm just glad that you're okay now. Don't scare me ever again like this."

"Yeah, you almost scared me to death" Leo said while he caressed his son's hair lovingly.

Chris suddenly jerked away from Piper and looked at Leo with a terrified expression on his face. "Dad... I'm sorry for using my powers against you. I didn't..."

"It's okay" Leo interrupted him and smiled assuringly.

"No! This is all not okay!" Chris exclaimed. "How can you say this? I attacked you and I yelled at mom..."

"That was all Barbas' doing" Leo said and tried to calm his son down.

Chris stopped his rant immediately and asked "Barbas?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah, I assume that he was also the one who made you believe that we hate you."

When Chris looked at her he could see the love and the worry in her eyes and suddenly he felt incredible stupid that he had believed that she hated him. The harsh words he had spoken earlier to her came back to him and he bent his head down in guilt. He had practically told her that she had been a bad mother to him and that was clearly not the case. He had to set things right. He looked back up at her and said "I'm really sorry for what I said..."

"Chris..." Piper tried to cut him off.

"No wait, please let me say something" Chris interrupted her immdiately. "I didn't mean the things I said like they came out. I never wanted to tell you that you're – that you're dead in my future because I hoped that I could change it. And I never blamed you for anything in my life. It was just so hard for me to lose you and..."

Piper embraced him quickly when Chris started to sob again. "It's okay baby, I don't blame you either for what you've said. You should have just told me earlier. I can't imagine how horrible the last half year had to be for you." She started to cry slightly when her own words and actions towards her son came back to her mind.

Phoebe felt a bit dizzy when she started to channel the emotions from mother and son. Even though they had taken the empath blocking potion she could sometimes feel them when their emotions were too strong. "I go to the attic and see if I can come up with a plan to vanquish Barbas" she whispered to Paige.

"I'll help you" Paige said and followed her sister out of the room.

Piper and Leo sat there for a while with their son and none of them spoke. They just held him tight, wanting to show him how much they really loved him. After a few minutes Chris fell asleep in his mother's arms and Leo gently lay him down on her bed. They covered him with a blanket and then sat down by his side.

It was almost ten minutes later that Piper finally broke the silence. "He's so brave..." she whispered, not even fully aware that she had said this aloud.

Leo nodded. "Yeah, he is. He's our little boy."

Piper turned to look at her husband. "I don't want him to be this brave. I don't want him to feel like he has to carry the wheight of the whole damn world on his shoulders alone. We're his parents. We should take care of him. And we can't even do this..."

"Piper, he's just as stubborn as you are" Leo said with a smile. "And he has the same determination to protect his family."

"But that doesn't mean that he has to sacrifice so much for doing this" Piper said, not willing to take Leo's words as a compliment. "You said it yourself, he's our little boy. We should protect him, not the other way around."

"We will protect him. I swear to you, I won't let anything happen to him" Leo said sincerly. "And if I have to follow him down to the underworld every single day to do that, so be it."

Piper grinned. "He won't like this."

"That's too bad, because I'm his father and I'll be there for him this time like he deserves it" Leo responded while he looked once again back to his son.

"I know you will, Leo" Piper sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Leo hesitated a second before he said "I never stopped loving you."

Piper smiled and kissed her husband on his cheek. "I love you too."

"DAMN IT!" Barbas yelled angrily while he paced in his cave in the underworld. He hadn't believed that the boy would survive. Now his whole plan was messed up and the Charmed Ones were once again our for his blood.

"I think you could need some help" a dark voice suddenly said from behind him.

Barbas turned around, ready to attack the interducer but when he saw the man he hesitated. It was clear that he possessed great power and maybe it wasn't such a good idea to attack him – at least not until he knew the reason why this man was here. "And you want to offer me your help?" he asked with suspicion.

The man shook his head. "Not exactly. I want you to follow my instructions."

Barbas snorted. "Why would I do this?"

The man smirked and conjured an energy ball. "Maybe because it will stop you from getting killed."

Barbas looked at the man and the weapon in his hand. Maybe he should really consider this deal. "And what are your instructions?"

"We'll vanquish the Charmed Ones – once and for all."

TBC... (Okay I have to admit I didn't plan to add another bad guy in this story, but well, it just happened somehow... Anyway I hope you liked the chapter.)