Chapter 12
The silence that filled the air seemed to have a deafening effect on the members of Halliwell manor as each one reflected on the events that had just occurred about an hour before. Not only did they have to find a way to cure their youngest nephew and child, but they also had to deal with a very real and dangerous threat in the form of his older brother, Wyatt. It was now harder then ever to ignore Chris's warnings and stories of the his sibling's love for the dark side and destroying of the universe because the proof was now laid out in front of them with no breathing room left for denial or protest.
As all in attendance saw what was to come they couldn't help but feel sorry for the way that they had treated the Halliwell boy. All he wanted to do wasstop his brother from becoming the evil monster that they had all seen today, but instead of support and assistance from his family all the boy received was distrust, sniping, threats, and hatred. Tears fell from their eyes as they thought back to the many different times they had yelled at him or threatened to do bodily harm to the boy who had seen things no one his age should have and dealt with the pain and torment that would have broken them all a long time ago. The saddened and jaded look that he would hold in his eyes as he orbed away never gotten to them as much as it did today.
The persons who felt the most guilt were the boy's parents, both past and future. The only difference between the two sets was that future Piper and Leo had made amends with the boy, while their past selves had just learned of his true identity so they didn't have the memories of his smile, his forgiving nature or the way that he spoke the two most precious words a person could ever heard, Mom and Dad. All they knew was that they had hurt someone who was a part of them and who's only crime was loving his family too much.
The silence was finally broken as Past Piper seemed as if she had, had an epiphany.
"I'm going to go check on Wyatt" she said with a serious lack of emotion.
"Ok sweetie. Do you want me to go with you?" Phoebe said not wanting to leave her sister alone.
"No, I'm ok" the woman spoke softly as she made her way up the stairs.
"I can't believe this is happening. All I wanted to do was save my son but instead I may have just handed him a fate worse then death" Future Piper said as he continued to stare out of the window.
"You can't afford to think that way Piper. We have to be strong for not only Chris, but Wyatt as well. Falling apart is not an option" her husband spoke as he rubbed the woman's shoulders.
"Did you see the look in his eyes? I never thought in a million years that our sweet nephew would have such cold eyes" Paige began as her body started to trembled while her eyes filled with water once again.
"Poor Chris, I could only imagine what his life must have been like. Did he ever open up to you guys?" questioned Phoebe searching for anything that might help her nephew once he returned.
"Yeah, but only a little though" replied Future Leo as he continued to console the heartbroken mother of his children.
"That's because he didn't want you to know Leo" Future Piper spoke as her mind flashed back to a very in depth conversation that she had with her youngest son. "And trust me, you don't want to know either"
"Was it really that bad?"
"Worse then any of you could ever imagine" the woman said answering her youngest sister's question.
"Can you tell me just one thing?" asked Past Leo.
"If I know the answer to your question"
"Did Wyatt ever…ever hurt Chris?" the man inquired.
The woman took several deep breathes before responding.
"Yes both emotionally and physically. During one of the many times he tried to convince Chris to rule with him, he stabbed him six times, only to heal him and do it all over again. Then he replayed the day that we…that we all died over and over until Chris drifted into a catatonic state" Piper let out a loud cry after barely being able to get the words out.
"We're dead in Chris's future?" Paige asked with eyes full of shock.
"Unfortunately, yes. He didn't just come back to save Wyatt, he came back for us as well" Future Leo spoke, proud of the brave man that his little boy would become.
"Why? Why would he do that to his own brother? It just doesn't make any sense"
"Since when does evil have to make sense Leo?" Phoebe said as her mind flashed back to her one of her many encounters with evil.
"No, I don't believe it. Maybe you didn't hear him right. Maybe he was talking about Wyatt doing that to someone else, one of his friends. Not Chris" the man almost whispered not willing to believe that his oldest son would torture his own brother.
"I heard him right Leo and the quicker you deal with the fact that Wyatt's evil in the future Chris came from the better you can protect him and make sure that it doesn't happen the second time around" Piper said in a voice that seemed almost as desperate as past Leo's.
"Trust me, I know how hard this is and I know it's a lot to take in but you have to believe it and get ready to right the wrongs, or Chris will have to go through it all over again. And this time, he may not survive long enough to come back to the past"
"I'm going to go Check on Piper" said Paige not really wanting to hear any more about the horrible future that her nephew was forced to deal with.
"No, I'll go. I need to see my son anyway" the man said as he slowly made his way up the stairs before stopping abruptly. "Can you guys not tell Piper about this? I just don't think she can handle any more" the man spoke before continuing on to his son's room.
Piper Halliwell stood next to her oldest son's crib looking down on him with eyes fully of worry and heartache. Her anxiety only increased as her mind drifted back to the scene in the cold grey building where she saw her two sons torturing a teenaged boy to death. Piper's disbelief and shock turned into guilt within seconds. All Chris ever wanted to do was save his brother and she as his mother should have trusted and respected that, but instead all she did was give him trouble and despise him for all of the danger that he seemed to put her family in. Not to mention the fact that she blamed him for the break up of her marriage, which in a way he was to blame, but he did what he thought was necessary at the time.
The woman sighed deeply as she heard her own voice echoing in her head as she told her youngest son that she never wanted to see him again. It seemed as if the boy's spirit had been broken the second that her words registered in his mind. Tears stared to fall fast and furiously as she remembered the look on his face as he was set to orb away with the words "I'm sorry" whispered from his mouth right before her future self and Leo arrived.
"No honey I'm sorry. I'm the one who failed you" she spoke softly to the child who was yet to be born. Then she decided to take a chance and say it to the boy's face.
"Chris!" she called as loudly as she could trying hard not to awaken the sleeping toddler. "Chris! Please it's important" and to her surprise the boy appeared in front of her.
"What do you want?" the coldness of his voice caused her to tense up.
"Honey…"
"What did you just call me?" the asked with a disgusted look on his face.
"Sweetie, please take this" the woman said holding up the vial in her hand. "You know this is not you. You're a good boy, you're nothing like him. Just drink this and we can figure out a way to save him together" she couldn't even bring herself to call that monster her son.
"Ha! I'm a good boy now, unh. Hey, I may be evil now but I remember what an unbearable BITCH you were to me ever since the moment you saw me" the boy raised his voice a little causing the younger version of his brother to raise his shield and protect the woman.
Her son's harsh words stun but she couldn't give up no matter how much the truth hurt.
"I'm so sorry Chris. I'll try to do better from now on, I promise. You're my little boy, my baby and I'll do what it takes to make you better, to turn you back into the sweet boy you were" she pleaded as she went to touch his face before the man slapped her hand away.
"Don't touch me witch! Now that I have Wyatt by my side I don't need your phony affection or love for that matter"
"It's not phony Chris, baby please just listen to me"
"Oh really, like the many times I wanted you to listen to me, to believe in me"
"I made a mistake. I'm sorry. Please just take this and I promise everything will make sense"
"No! Get that shit away from me before I cram the whole vial down your throat"
"Chris" the woman whispered clearly distraught by her sons hateful words as she reached out to touch him only to get pushed away again.
"No! I don't want to listen to another word out of your mouth. From this moment forward you are not my mother. I'll deal with your future self for now, until she pisses me off that is. Now if you'll excuse me my brother's calling. Oh and if you call me or disrupt my meeting for any reason I will make you pay, with your life. Later. PIPER" with that the boy disappeared in a swirls of darkness.
"Piper are you ok? I thought I just heard someone in here with you" the man called out as he entered the room.
Instantly a distraught Piper fell into the man's arms and cried. Holding on to Leo tightly the woman released what she had been holding in since the pervious day. Although he still wanted answers, Leo knew that allowing his ex-wife to let go was the right thing to do for now. So he sat there and held her whispering comforting words into her ear, trying to keep the woman he loved from going over the edge.
After a few minutes the woman pulled back and inhaled deeply before moving to get some tissue. Once she returned she stood by her son's crib before speaking.
"He hates me Leo" the woman spoke avoiding her husbands stare.
"Who hates you?" he spoke as he made his way over to her side before putting an arm over her shoulder.
"Chris. That's who you head me talking to. You should have heard him Leo" the woman began wiping the lighter tears away. "He said such horrible things and he told me never to call for him again and if I did, he would…he would kill me" the broke down once more.
"He didn't mean that Piper. Besides it wasn't Chris that said those things, it's the evil that's taken him over"
"No Leo, you didn't see the look in his eyes, he meant every single word"
"I don't believe that for one second"
"Oh like we didn't believe our son when he told us that his brother was the ruler of all evil. You know this whole thing is my fault. If I hadn't distracted Chris with my latest accusation he would have orbed away before the darklighter shot him and we wouldn't be going through this right now"
"I've had enough of this Piper you are not to blame for what happened to Chris. None of us are. It was Gideon. Maybe he's the one who turned Wyatt evil when he was trying to kill him"
"Nice try Leo, but I did this. Me and no one else"
"Beating yourself up about this isn't going to help Chris or Wyatt. Let's just focus on saving our boys and we'll sort the rest out later" the man said giving the woman a loving kiss on the head.
"We have to save them both Leo. I don't know what I will do if anything happens to my boys" the woman spoke into the man's chest.
"We will Piper. I promise. We will do whatever we have to, to save them. No matter what the cost"
Thank sooooo much for the reviews guys and I promise that I will thank everyone personally in my next chapter.
