He did it for me

Chapter 32

By: teal-lover

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Being twice blessed, Wyatt thought that nothing could ever hurt him. It's devastating to find out how wrong you can be. Takes place in the future that Chris changed.

Chris just turned 19, and Wyatt is three months shy of his 21st birthday.

Disclaimer in chapter 1

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Chris looked at his parents doubtfully as he repeated, "You really want me back? Even when the other Chris comes back?"

"Of course." They all confirmed.

Chris glanced up hesitantly, "But I don't have a body to go to."

Piper jutted her chin out with determination, "It doesn't matter." She cupped his face in her hands, "Now that we've found you--we're not giving you up again. We'll find a way."

"Yeah, even if I have to make you a body." Paige smiled mischievously, "You can have anything you want—How about it, Chris? Mr. Right? or Mr. Wrong?"

Phoebe's eyes glazed over, "Oooh—or Mr-Hot-Latin-Type-Right?"

Piper threw her hands to her hips, furious over the suggestions, "Absolutely not! I will not have the two of your drooling over my son!"

Prue elbowed Paige good naturedly before muttering under her breath, "Three. That David character you two cooked up was 'very' impressive, sis. Do you still have that recipe?"

Paige recognized her oldest sister's attempt to make things right between them, and decided to brush aside their earlier disagreement as everyone tried to lighten the intense mood. After all, she and her two living sisters had fought plenty of times over the years, and she couldn't remember any of those times where they hadn't simply forgiven each other. And usually without the need for verbal apologies.

She straightened her shoulders proudly and asked Prue, "You really think so? I guess he was pretty good work. I mean, I made him to have all the right parts…"

Wyatt shared a disgusted look with his father. "I'm not sure exactly what it is you guys are talking about, but—eww! I'm sure it's just gross. Can we please talk about something else?"

Penny spoke up for the first time in hours, "I second that. I got a look at that David character and you girls are just shameless!" She watched all of the Charmed Ones, both past and present cast their glances at the floor in embarrassment. She turned around in a huff to appear stern, but was in fact barely able to suppress her own grin.

She was glad that things had worked out the way the did. Chris seemed happier now that he seemed to have found his own place in the family. The older woman backed away into the corner, tugging on Prue's shirt to lead her away and make themselves as unobtrusive as possible, giving the other's a bit of time for acceptance. Her lips curled up slightly watching the family all settle into a playful banter, gradually relaxing Chris and easing him into the "official" Halliwell fold.

Her thoughts, however, drifted unpleasantly to their missing youngest Halliwell, and she feared for his safety. Or rather, his sanity. It was time to get back to business. She only hoped silently, that there would be time for Chris to get to know his family later, and vice versa. Clearing her throat, she placed her hand on his shoulder gently while he quietly chatted with his mother and interrupted. "I'm so sorry to have to break things up, but I believe time is of the essence here. Chris is still in danger, and we still don't know who killed Christopher and why."

Piper explained quickly, "But we did find out. It was Julius behind all of this. He's the Angel of Death that made me one right after I had Chris—well, the other Chris." She turned to her family inquisitively as a thought suddenly struck her, "How are we going to tell them apart? They look and sound exactly the same."

Penny was about to answer, but Chris spoke for her. "Grams decided that I would still be called Chris. The other one—I mean the one you raised—is Christopher."

"Okkk", she drawled out, knowing how much her youngest hated to be called by his full name. "I bet he pitched a fit over that one. So anyway, Julius miscalculated."

Leo jumped in to explain as well, feeling an overwhelming need to be doing something. "He and the other Elders had been planning to kill Christopher since the day he was born. Matthias was insistent on some scroll being the reason that Julius would destroy the world, and that Chris—or Christopher—were destined to be time travelers and die at the age of 19, no matter what."

Piper grinned at the dark haired boy, "So we think that buys us some time to figure this whole mess out. They messed up. You've still got a good five years on Christopher…" her voice trailed off as he nervously ran his fingers through his hair and rocked back on his heels. She suddenly began to panic, "Chris? You're—Oh, please tell me we have some time?"

Leo looked just as scared as he counted on his fingers, "You were here for 15 months. If you had just turned 19 the day you—that's just not possible. That would mean that you would have been 17 when you got here."

Chris threw his hands in the air defensively as he grumbled out sarcastically, "Oh, give me a break! There's no way in the world that you would have even let me come close to being the Charmed Ones whitelighter if you knew how old I really was! You barely gave me a shot as it was. And you really think that as skeptical as you all were to begin with, you would have welcomed me with open arms if I had told you that I was almost eighteen!"

Even Penny was surprised at the admission. That fact was probably the one thing he had never elaborated on with her. She managed to stutter out, "But you were engaged to that woman…"

"Well, when you're a teenager left in the care of an evil tyrant who rules the world--you kind of grow up fast."

Wyatt saw that is his brother was quickly growing agitated again, and withdrawn. He didn't want him to feel alienated again, so he defended him, "Look guys, none of that really matters. We knew we were short on time to begin with. This doesn't change anything."

Leo wrapped his arms around the teen, "I'm sorry Chris. We're not blaming you for anything--just afraid of loosing you again. But this is just going to make us work harder, faster, to fix things. That's all." He tried to joke with him despite his nervousness, "We all work better under pressure, right?"

Chris grinned back, "Right. So what does Julius want with me?"

"I don't know, son." Leo's heart soared when Chris didn't push him away at the title, but merely smiled shyly. "But he's not going to get what he wants this time. We'll be here to make sure that doesn't happen. He's not coming near you if I—"

The Charmed Ones all cleared their throats at the same time.

Leo quickly corrected, "—sorry, if WE have anything to say about it."

Penny prepared herself mentally for the argument she knew would follow her words, "Actually, you don't have anything to say about it. Because you're not staying. None of you are, well, except for Wyatt."

"WHAT!" Piper yelled. "No! I just found him. I'm not going anywhere without my son!"

Penny sighed in frustration, "Prue and I hadn't expected for any of you to be here. You're not supposed to be here."

Phoebe crossed her arms defiantly, "Well, we are here. So now we just have to go from here."

"Wyatt's shield is still up, we just kind of slipped through. So no one can find him if that's what you're worried about." Paige pointed out helpfully.

Penny shook her head adamantly, "I'm sorry, but you're all a danger to Chris right now. They can't track him, and Wyatt needs to stay here to watch over him. But with all of you missing, you're just going to make it easier for the Elders to track you. You'll lead them straight to him. And we can't afford to let that happen. You have to go back. And that's final!" She turned and stomped out of the room to regain her composure, Prue trailing behind her.

When the younger woman caught up, she spun her grandmother around and whispered in a hushed tone, "What just happened back there? You were the one who was so gung-ho about Chris bonding with his family. And I supported both you and him in there to get that to happen. And now that's it is finally happening, you want them to just pack up and leave?"

"Prue—"

"Don't 'Prue' me Grams. You need to explain this to me, because I sure as hell don't understand. You've said it yourself a thousand times—we're stronger together as a family. Don't you think they can help?"

When Penny answered, tears filled her eyes. "I was telling the truth back there—all of them being here will make it easier for the Elders to find him."

Prue eyed the woman suspiciously, her fear growing when the older woman's voice wavered. "But that's not the only reason you want them gone, is it?"

"No. I don't--They can't be here when Clarence brings Christopher."

"I don't understand, they're not going to just throw Chris aside just because Christopher comes back."

"They won't be able to focus enough to keep the boys safe. I know my girls. How sensitive they are..."

Prue crossed her arms and leaned in closer, "What aren't you telling me, Grams?"

Penny took a deep breath, trying hard not to think about her own concerns for what she knew was, and probably had happened. "Christopher won't be in any shape for visitors," she said subtly, hoping that she wouldn't have to verbalize her thoughts. She watched Prue's gaze flicker for a moment, before realization seemed to dawn in her eyes and a look of horror befell her features. She nodded in confirmation, "They brought demons to a spiritual plain, Prue. No good could have come of that. They're running out of time just as we are. There's just no way that they would remain patient with him."

"When were you going to tell me?" the younger woman asked softly.

"Honestly? I wasn't planning on it at all. But I figured you wouldn't have time to dwell on it once you saw him here safe and sound. But I need your help to convince them to leave. Before it's too late. I trust Clarence. He will bring him back. And soon. Please Prue. Don't make this harder for them."

"I'll help you. I'll do what I can."

Tbc…

AN: THANK YOU so much for the reviews! You guys are so awesome. And I know—I have to tell you what's going on, and I will soon—I promise. You'll find out what's going on with Christopher next chapter, and maybe—even what the title stands for….hehe. I'm so excited. Yes, we're winding down, cause I'm already thinking about my next story. Plus, this turned out so much longer than I had originally planned.