Chapter 4
The woman's body jerked slightly as the tears that had been falling for quite some time now begin to subside. Phoebe could only imagine what this version of her sister must have gone through to cause her this much pain and torment. From what the woman said thus far Chris was the one that she was so desperate to save, so it wasn't a family member that the Halliwell's had lost, or was it? That can't be it, she thought trying to shake the idea out of her head.
The annoying, smart mouth little witch/whitelighter couldn't possibly be a member of the family, right? Hell that would explain how he knows so much about them and the house itself, since he's been walking around like he owns the place every since his arrival in the past. As much as she wanted her questions answered, she knew that her sister's emotional state was very fragile at the moment. So she would let it go, for now anyway. And if her assumptions were correct, then she would have a lot of ass to kiss as far as the young man was concerned.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt her sister pull back. They sat in silence for a few moments longer before the woman spoke.
"Thanks so much honey, you have no idea how much I needed that" the future version of her sister spoke giving the woman a weak smile.
"It's ok sweetie you don't have to apologize for showing your emotions. Hey, you know you don't have to be the family martyr all the time" she said giggling as she returned the smile. "So something in the future has you pretty freaked out, would you like to talk about it?" replied Phoebe as she rubbed the woman's back softly.
As much as Piper wanted to confide in her sister, she knew that it was best to remain quite for now.
"Would I like to, yes, can I, no" the woman sighed. "I'm sorry Phoebe but the whole future consequences thing is way too risky. Ha, I never thought in a million years that I would be talking in "Chris" language." She spoke with a somber tone while trying hard not to breakdown again.
"Hey if you change your mind you know that Paige and I are here for you. And if this becomes too much for you and Leo to handle on your own we have no problem helping you guys out so don't hesitate to ask."
"Thanks, but this is something that Leo and I have to handle on our own"
"What about Chris? Aren't you going to ask him for help? After all he is the one who started this whole mess"
"NO HE'S NOT!" the woman shouted tired of those around her blaming her son for everything.
Phoebe couldn't help but feel bad about blaming everything on Chris again, a habit that she would have to break if it turns out that he is in fact her nephew and judging from Piper's reaction, he might very well be. Making sure not to alert her sister to her train of thought the woman decided to change the subject.
"You're right it's not. So, where did Leo go?"
"To get everybody's favorite whipping boy" the woman spoke with venom in her voice. Ok Piper calm down, she thought. Phoebe doesn't know that he's your son so you need to relax if you're going to keep his identity a secret. "I'm sorry Phoebe it's just that he went through so much to protect Wyatt and we were all so unfair to him, I feel the least I can do is stick up for him and let you guys know to give the poor kid a break"
"I understand that, but Chris…"
"No buts Phoebe! I'm not going to let you people torture my, I mean Chris any more and that's that!"
"Listen sweetie, I didn't mean to upset you and if you say Chris is a good kid then I believe you. Just please calm down before you make yourself sick"
"Good. Now if you can help past me and Paige see things more clearly, then I will be forever grateful. Or at least make them pretend to like him in my presence"
"I will do my best. But for now I have some work to do so I'm going to have to leave you alone. Will you be ok up here by yourself?" she asked giving her sister another squeeze.
"Yeah I'll be fine, Leo should be back soon, so I won't be alone for too long. So you are free to go lady" the woman said returning her sister's embrace.
"Ok sweetie, I'll be in my room if you need anything" with that the woman made her exit.
Coming to the past turned out to be a lot harder then she thought. Seeing her son and being reminded of how badly he was treated caused her to be extremely over protective of him. A fact that the past versions of herself and her family were picking up on but she knew that in the end saving her little boy was all that mattered.
"Oh I love you so much sweetie" she said as she studied a picture of baby Chris smiling as his older brother gave him a kiss on the cheek. It had only been a few hours and already she missed her boys. "I'll be home as soon as you're safe peanut, I swear." The sound of someone orbing in broke her thoughts. That's when she looked into a pair of the most beautiful blue-green eyes that she had ever seen, those of her little baby boy.
"Look who I found" the man spoke still unwilling to release his hold on the boy.
"Hey Mom" he smiled as he moved to sit down next to his mother with his father taking the space beside him. Although it felt awkward to be this close to his Mom after not seeing her for so long, he couldn't deny how much he missed her and how good it felt to see her again.
Immediately the woman wrapped her arms around the boy that she had been missing for months. Tears streamed down her face once more as the word "Mom" echoed through her head. Oh how she loved hearing that word come from his mouth, now more then ever. She finally had her baby back and there was no way in hell that she was ever going to let him go.
"I missed you so much honey. And I'm so sorry for the way that I treated you. I never meant any of those horrible things, I swear. Oh God, I wish I could take them all back. How could I have been so stupid?" the woman yelled as she continued to breakdown for the second time today.
"Please don't cry Mom" the boy spoke as he wiped away his mother's tears. "It wasn't your fault. You had no way of knowing who I was and that's the way I wanted it."
"That's no excuse Chris. I'm your mother it's my job to recognize my own child. I should have felt something or saw myself in your eyes, the way you talked. I should have wondered how you knew your way around the house so well, or how you knew everything about us or the book of shadows. I mean, when those fake charmed ones took over you said that you never seen us take the bait like they did in all your life, the signs were right there the whole time and I ignored all of them."
"Piper please don't do this to yourself. Chris said that he forgives you so just let it go and forgive yourself" Past Leo said as he tried to let go of his own guilt.
"Dad's right Mom. None of those things were your fault. Besides I'm a pretty good liar so you never stood a chance" he laughed.
"Oh yeah, I can see a lot of grounding in your future mister" she smiled through her tears.
"Yeah me and Wy are a hand full, but you love us anyway"
"Yes, I do" she said as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"As much as I would love for our conversation to stay this happy, we do have other things that we need to talk about" the man spoke in a whisper not really wanting to discuss the events that lead up to his son's murder.
"You're right" she spoke in a voice almost as low as her husbands. Taking her son's hand in hers the woman began to relay the tragic tale "It all started when…"
Chris listen in horror as his parents filled him in on the events that were going to take place over the next few months. His heart skipped a beat once he found out that he almost wasn't conceived, but with much reassuring they put the young man's mind at ease before continuing their story. Once everything was laid out in front of him, the group sat quietly as the boy tried hard to let the information sink in. After a few moments, it was his father that spoke.
"Don't worry son, we're not going to let anything happen to you" he spoke as he tighten his grip on his son's hand. "I promise Gideon will pay for what he's done"
His continued silence frightened the boy's mother.
"Chris. Hey peanut, are you ok?" the woman said trying to snap her son back to reality.
"No, you can't do this" the boy said finally breaking his silence.
"Do what Chris?" the worry evident in the man's voice.
"You can't change anything. You have to go back to your future and pick up where you left off other wise you're going to screw everything up"
"No Chris we are not going to leave you here to handle everything on your own. My past self is already suspicious of you what is she going to think if you tell her that it's her husband's mentor that's been after her son. She's going to think that you're nuts"
"Well that won't be a problem" the boy spoke as both of his parents wore looks of frustration and confusion. "I'm going to let everything play out the way that it's meant to. I'm not going to change anything and I don't want you to either!"
"Well that's too damn bad Chris because I refuse, do you hear me, refuse to let you die. Sorry son, but you are not going to get your way on this" Leo's voice growing louder as his son tried to interrupt him.
"Look sweetie I know that you're afraid of future consequences and all but there is no way in hell that I'm going to let my son die. Did you ever stop to think of the impact that your death had on us" his mother said brushing his hair out of his face.
"You two are survivors. You'll get over it eventually" Chris replied coldly.
"GET OVER IT" the man's screamed in a voice that he didn't even recognize. "NO, I WILL NEVER GET OVER MY SON DYING IN MY ARMS! Damn it Chris don't you know that I constantly see the look on your face as you died each and every time I close my eyes. Do have any idea how it feels to know that you failed the one person that you love more than life it's self? Do you?"
"YEAH I DO KNOW DAD BECAUSE IT'S THE SAME EXACT WAY I FEEL ABOUT MOM" the boy yelled angrily while fighting back tears. Did they think he wanted to die? No, he had too no matter how much it hurt them or didn't make sense, it had to happen other wise his brother would become the world's worst nightmare. Everything had to go according to plan and if he could understand this, why couldn't they?
"Well if that's the way you feel honey, then here's your chance to make it up to me. Let me save you. Please don't make me lose my little boy for the second time Chris. I don't think that I could handle it" the woman spoke covering her face with her hands.
Seeing his mother like that broke the boy's heart in two. Both she and his father had gone through so much over the past year and a half and all they wanted in return was to help him. Then against his better judgment he spoke.
"Ok, I'll go along with your plan. Just please stop crying Mom" he said as he held the woman tightly. He then looked at his father "I'm so sorry Dad. I didn't mean to upset you or Mom" he spoke in a child like voice.
"It's ok Chris. And I'm sorry for reacting the way that I did. I just wanted you to understand how much we love you. You're our son; it's our job to protect you not the other way around. The sooner you realize that the easier it will be for us to help you" he spoke as he engulfed both mother and son in tight embrace. "I'm going to make this ok, for all of us. I promise" his father said planting a kiss on top of his head.
Meanwhile past Leo stood listening at the door trying to make sure that he remained unseen and unheard as the tears rolled down his face.
He was on his way into the attic to look something up when he heard his future self speaking. The words you're our son, replayed it's self over and over again in his head as he reached for the railing to steady himself from the emotional blow. The man began to feel sick to his stomach as the numerous times he had threatened or hurt the boy came flooding back to him.
"Oh my God" he whispered as he remembered holding a sword to his own son's throat, "he'll never forgive me" he said in a low voice.
The tears continued to pour out as the man's guilt ate him up inside. Then he thought about what the truth was going to do to his Piper. If he was feeling this bad after learning the truth then it was almost a giving that it was going to destroy her especially after the way she treated the boy today alone. He just hoped that the woman would be able to recover from the pain instead of allowing it to consume her. With that man straightened himself up and made his way down the stairs and into his wife's bedroom.
DrewFullerFanLife-I know and I love you for it! LOL
IcantthinkofaFnick-Sí ¿nuestro Chris tiene que no lo hace el complejo del héroe abajo a una ciencia él? LOL pero como usted sabe que las cosas van a conseguir mucho peores antes de que consigan mejor. Pero como nuestro Chris lo dirigirá siempre con facilidad, o no. LOL ¡Gracias de por la revisión!
Sparkling Cherries-Hee. Yes I absoultly love your story so hurry up and finish all of your work already! I need my fix. LOL Thanks for reviewing.
Fire Gazer-I know the bonding between Leo and Chris is nice and it felt so good to write seeing as how we didn't get much of it on the show. As for your other question, I think this chapter pretty much answered it but Piper is going to find out another way and it's going to hurt like hell.
Mysterious Midnight-Thanks and don't worry I've been running on E myself for the past few days so you're forgiven. LOL Hope you liked this chapter as well.
Wonder- Thank you so much! Again I'm really disappointed how the show handled the whole Chris situation. There's just so much more they could have done but I guess we're just going to have to accept the crap they handed to us instead. :(
Pita-Now you're going to get some violence but the crime is not going to be committed by anyone you'd suspect.
Charmedtomeetyou-Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter.
Phoebe Turner-Thanks a bunch for the kind review and don't forget to let me know what you thought about this chapter as well. P.S. See I listen, this chapter was a little longer. Was it long enough for you? Crosses fingers
Septedeneuf-Aw. Thank you so much. I'm flattered and yeah I wish that I was a writer for Charmed as well that way I could give most of the FANS what they wanted (instead of being selfish and ruining the show like a certain producer that shall remain nameless, just because I want to move on to other projects). P.S. Do you think that I have anger issues as far as this shows concerned? LOL
Insanechildfanfic-Thanks so much for the review. I hope you liked this chapter too.
Karone Evertree-I'm glad you enjoyed the bonding between the two of them and between the three of them in this chapter. Thank you for taking time out to review (with your schedule being what it is and all). I appreciate it.
Anianka-LOL Thanks for the glowing review! I hope that you liked the family moment in this chapter as well. I would say that Chris knew that it was the Piper from the new timeline because how she was speaking and talking about him (someone we love will die- line and the way she squeezed his hand I would say as a signal to him) and I guess some little things in between. I hope that helps you some and I look forward to your next review.
Night-Owl123-Here's your update! I hope that you like the newest chapter and don't worry you have just a few chapters to go before your visitor arrives.
