Sorry for such a short chapter, but I've just started my university life and I'm kinda busy right now. Still, please, review, I really need your appreciation.
Chris leant against the back of the couch smiling to his little cousin. He never knew Pat as a child but looking at her exuberant future self it was easy to believe it when she was saying that stubbornness and curiosity were Turners' family traits. Now he could see for himself how these traits used to show at the age of 5.
'Are you a
whitelighter?' Pat asked excitedly. She was sitting on the table near
the couch, her legs dangling in the air, black curly hair disheveled,
bright blue eyes radiating sheer delight with such an unusual visitor.
'Yes, I am,' Chris answered grinning.
'And what are your powers?'
'Orbing, healing, ability to sense my charges.'
'What's
orbing? How can you sense them? Who are they? Why haven't you healed
yourself?' the flood of questions was unstoppable.
'I'll show you orbing as soon as someone heals me.'
Pat frowned.
'But aren't you already okay? We gave you the cure for that poison.'
'It's not enough.' They both turned as Cole entered the room carrying Joanna's book of spells.
'We
have to find another whitelighter to heal him completely,' he
explained. 'The potion only remits the symptoms but they can exacerbate
before long.'
'Then we must go looking for a whitelighter,' Pat exclaimed jumping off the table and looking at Chris worriedly.
'Unfortunately, whitelighters don't usually roam about streets offering their services. But we may not worry for at least several hours, the potion will block any effect of poison.' Cole looked at Chris. 'But while we're talking you must be starving, right?' The look in his eyes clearly told that Chris had to be starving even if he didn't. 'Patty, make us some sandwiches, please.'
She seemed to be hesitating and Cole smiled at her anxious expression.
'C'mon, Pat, we'll find him a whitelighter, I promise. Now go, the
guy's really hungry.' She nodded seriously and ran to the kitchen.
'Now,'
said the demon turning to Chris, 'you have five minutes to come clean
with me so that I'd be utterly convinced that I want to help you. You
know, I don't usually practice philanthropy. So the first question: how
do you know me.'
'Umm, it's kinda hard to explain…' but one glance
at Cole told Chris that his uncle wouldn't appreciate evasiveness right
now, so he quickly changed the tone. 'Okay, to put it briefly, I'm your
nephew from the alternate future.'
'What?' Cole apparently was close to thinking it was a not so funny joke, so Chris hastily explained:
'I
came from my rather nasty future to change the past and stop some
things from happening. After my mission was completed I had to be sent
back, but considering the good I'd done and the fact that I got killed
in the process, the Elders allowed me to stay here. But they forbade me
to see mom and the others.'
But such an answer could hardly satisfy his suspicious relative.
'But what does all this have to do with me? I strongly doubt that we may share the same family tree.'
'No.
But my name is Chris Halliwell, I'm Piper and Leo's son, Pat is Auntie
Phoebe's daughter, which makes her my cousin. And you're the father of
my cousin, which makes you my Uncle. At least I used to call you that.'
'How did it happen that you knew me?' Cole asked after a pause, a bit too nonchalantly.
'It was an accident.' At least one thing never changed in any possible
future - Chris was absolutely sure what exactly the demon wanted to
know. 'Pat and me had been friends for a long time before we learnt
about our relationship. My father used to spend all the time Up There
and only checked up on Wyatt from time to time, so you were closer to
being my father than anyone else.'
'And Piper let this happen?' Cole asked unbelievingly. 'She didn't even know where her son spent most of his time?'
'She
had much trouble with Wyatt,' however painful it was to think that his
parents had paid more attention to his brother, Chris realized that it
had been absolutely necessary and didn't blame his mother. She tried
her best. 'Besides, mom had found out eventually. Of course, it was a
bit of a shock to her to find you alive and with her niece but she
learnt to trust you and kept your secret.'
'Sounds incredible,' murmured Cole.
At that moment Pat came into the room carefully bringing a large tray of sandwiches. Or what she meant to be sandwiches…
'I'm
afraid at your time Patty was a somewhat more experienced cook,' Cole
chuckled under his breath following his newfound nephew's puzzled gaze.
'But in the meantime you'll have to taste cheese with bits of cucumber
and apricot jam. Don't worry, I ate something like this in the morning
and I'm still alive.'
'You survived two vanquishes,' the whitelighter muttered.
'And you're already dead, remember?'
'Look out!' Phoebe and Paige hardly had time to jump aside as a large energy ball hit the wall right where they had stood a second ago. Piper was standing in front of the Chris' crib, her posture alert, her hands lifted, obviously waiting for another attack.
'What was that?' Phoebe asked, carefully popping her head from behind the crib.
'Some really annoying demon,' Piper answered, her attention
still on the windows. 'Instead of coming in here so that I could blow
up his sorry ass, he keeps sending energy balls through the windows.'
'Have
you seen him?' Paige inquired examining her bruise. 'We could find a
spell to summon him right into the crystal cage. Anyway, why didn't you
call Leo and ask him to take Chris to the Magic School?'
'It looks
like he's too busy to take care of his son. Heads down!' Another energy
ball froze right in front of Paige. With a wave of her hand the witch
sent it flying back where it had come from. A low curse was heard from
the outside of the window and Piper barely had had time to react before
three more balls were aimed at them.
'Okay, guys, end of fun.
Paige, take Chris to the Magic School, then you and Phoebe go to the
attic and find the spell for that guy, I'll try to hold him back till
your return but hurry up, he may get bored.'
'Piper! You mean we should leave you here all alone to freeze this stuff on your own?'
But once Piper made up her mind no one could stop her.
'Phoebe, I don't mean to spend another couple of days standing like
that in front of Chris' crib waiting for an energy ball. Anyway, as far
as I see, none of can help me with freezing this stuff. So, please, go!'
Her voice held enough determination and Paige complied with an exasperated sigh.
The
sight of her sister orbing distracted Piper just for a second, but that
was enough. A whizzing sound made the witch turn around quickly only to
see an energy ball flying right into her. She tried to dodge the blow
but then a sharp pain shot through her arm and she fell onto the floor,
unconscious.
I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter, but the more reviews I get, the more inspired I'll be!
