Chapter 15: Doppelganger
A/N: as you can probably tell by the title, this is about Piper's reaction to herself. I've actually planned out the next chapter, so at the end, I'll give you a little preview. Thanks for all the nice reviews. Keep them coming.
It took several minutes for Phoebe and Leo to calm future Piper down. She still wouldn't tell them what was wrong, but Leo wasn't that stupid. He knew that Piper's reaction gad something to do with what he had said to Chris. Lei wanted to be able to comfort his wife, but he didn't know what to do or what to sat. The best thing he could do was to trust her, and take her seriously. He could figure out what Piper's connection to Chris was later. His wife needed him.
Piper, meanwhile, was worried about Chris. She knew where he went. It was where he always went when things got rough. Leo liked to go there to. Chris went to the Golden Gate Bridge. That was certain. The question was whether or not he would return. What Leo had said had hurt Chris pretty badly. Heck, it had even hurt her. She knew that her husband didn't really mean it. He was just trying to protect the son that he already had. He had no way of knowing Chris was his son to.
The atmosphere in the Halliwell Manor was a tense one. On one side of the attic was Piper, looking anxious, and a bit lost. On the other side were Phoebe and Leo, wanting to help this future version of Piper, but not knowing how. No one was speaking. Suddenly, future Piper broke the silence. "Where's Paige?" she asked.
Leo quickly answered, "She's at one of her temp jobs. She shouldn't be back for an hour or two."
Piper nodded. She would tell Paige when she got home. Piper asked the second thing that had been bugging her for a while. "Where am I?" she asked her sister. Piper couldn't remember where she had been at this particular time, and she felt that facing herself would be the most difficult of all.
"I think you're at the club", Phoebe said, She then corrected herself when they all heard the sounds of a key turning in the door. "Never mind", Phoebe said, "you're home." Piper wondered for a moment how she would react to seeing herself in the attic. She supposed she wouldn't have been as suspicious as Phoebe was. She probably would have blown herself off, even tell herself to come back later. She had to get someone to trust her. She figured that she would be the best shot.
"Is anybody body home!" future Piper heard her own voice yell up the stairs. It was strange hearing herself.
"In the attic!" Phoebe yelled hesitantly. They could all hear past Piper's hurried footsteps up the attic stairs. It made sense that Piper was worried. The Charmed Ones usually didn't ho to the attic just for fun. When Piper saw herself, looking older, and slightly more worn, she stopped dead in her tracts.
"If you're a shape shifting demon, just go away and leave me alone." Past Piper said sighing. Future Piper gave herself a small smile. Phoebe and Leo still looked a bit confused, but decided to remain supportive nonetheless. Future Piper stepped directly in front of her past self, and looked straight into her eyes. "Listen to me very carefully", she said matter of factly, "I am from about two and a half in the future. Something has gone wrong in the future. Very wrong. We need to fix it."
Past Piper looked taken aback by her future self's statement. What could have gone so wrong? She would never leave Wyatt alone. Unless…had something happened to Wyatt? "Wh…at is it? What happened?" asked past Piper worriedly. Future Piper pondered how to answer for a moment. She decided to be honest with herself.
"I'll show you", Future Piper said softly. Future Piper didn't want to force her memories on anyone, especially herself, but she didn't think she had a choice.
"How?" her past self asked.
"With a spell", future Piper said, "give me your hand." Past Piper looked doubtful, but grabbed her own hand anyways. Future Piper cleared her throat and chanted,
"Goddess hear your daughters plea,
Show her my worst memory,
Show her the scene from my past,
To help our future last."
She knew from past Piper's reaction that the spell had worked. She felt a little guilty when she saw the look of horror on her past self's face. She tried to tell herself that it was necessary. At least now her past self would trust her. Past Piper came out of her vision like trance with tears in her eyes. "What do we have to do?" asked past Piper quietly.
Future Piper took a deep breath. "We have to get to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge to find Chris. He's the only one that can help us", she said.
TBC…
Here's a little preview...
Chapter 16: A Different Paige
"Am I married? Do I have kids? Do I have a job?" asked Paige excitedly. Out of her sisters, she was the only one who didn't mistrust this future version of Piper.
"Nice try Paige, I can't tell you anything..." Piper started to explain.
"Future consequences", the sisters said in unisson.