A Charmed Story - Part One:
Saving The Future Over And Over Again
Chapter 4

"I don't know..." answered Leo, devastated. "I don't really know what to do. Barbas was the only one that could take me there."
"But I guess that means Wyatt can't reach Chris, either." guessed Paige.
Phoebe was still very crossed at Cole and all that stuff to think, and Piper too worried about what Cole could be doing to his son.
"Wyatt doesn't even know where he is," said Leo, "Hopefully..."
Paige just nodded, but where had Wyatt gone then?

& & & & &

Cole was shocked, still trying to get over Chris's last words.
"I can do nothing, Chris... I don't know what to do. I just can tell you you're not on that damned list! "
"I AM... now, uncle," another fit of cough got him.
"Stop it, Chris, just stop it, don't speak..." Cole was trying to think what he could actually do to save him.
"Leo is coming... " All of a sudden, he realized that Leo was not actually coming because Barbas had escaped, and only he could bring him.
So now, Chris was trapped in that ghostly plane, dying, and nobody could save him.
But no. He was not gonna die. Barbas was not going to beat him like that. He'd do whatever he had to in order to save Chris, as he had said before. And he'd do it.
He grabbed Chris and tried to shimmer away from the ghostly plane, to the real world. And it worked. They just appeared in the manor, in front of his former family...
"Leo! Heal him now!" he said, ignoring the shocked looks of the rest. He was more worried now about Chris than about himself and the terrible consequences his action would carry out... It was totally forbidden for him to return to this plane. The punishment would be awful.

& & & & &

Wyatt had orbed to the Golden Gate Bridge, and was trying again to sense his brother. All this was frustrating, where had he gone?
Suddenly he felt him. A very fainted feeling, but there he was...
He felt that his brother gained back his energy. He wouldn't let that happen. He had to stop his family, he had to kill him, he had to kill all of them. He just wanted to orb, when Barbas appeared.
"What do you want?" Wyatt asked.
"He is dead," Barbas said.
Wyatt was grinning: "No, he isn't, but soon he will be."
Barbas looked surprised. "How could that be? He was in the ghostly plane, he couldn't go out, and Leo couldn't get in without me. And even if he has found a way, he won't be able to heal him there."
Wyatt looked at him interested. That was really mysterious, if those things Barbas said were true.
"Unless..." Barbas said after a short break for thinking, "...unless Cole has found a way to get him back."
"Cole?" Wyatt asked shocked.

& & & & &

While Leo gave his best to heal his son, Cole sat on the sofa surrounded by the sisters.
"How could you came back?" Piper asked. She had closely returned to her old strength after having Chris back.
"Who cares, let's him kill again!" Phoebe yelled.
Cole felt really hit by these words. He still loved her, but she felt nothing but hatred.
He shook his head, then looked at Piper: "I don't know... I don't know what happened. I think I... he... I mean... I don't know. I think he gave me my soul back."
Phoebe rose her eyebrow.
"No, that can't be true!" Phoebe yelled with a bit of panic in her voice.
"It is!" Chris said. He was standing in the doorway, completely healed. Leo was behind him.
The sisters were happy but also shocked about all that.
Chris went over to the sofa, sat down next to Cole and hugged him: "Thank you uncle. I was sure that you could do that."
At first, Cole wasn't able to react. He was as shocked as everyone else. A flood of feelings he had forgotten, were now involving him, and it made him sick. It was good, but too much for so little time. He hugged the boy back, carefully at first, then strongly.
Phoebe stared at them in disbelief, shaking her head. "I must be dreaming... Paige, pinch me to wake me up!"
Paige had her mouth opened, and didn't even pay attention to her sister, while Piper looked at Chris and Cole, filled with joy because he was alive, but also sad because now, it was clear that her son loved his uncle much more than her. After all, she had rejected and insulted him, and even desired his death...
Cole, still hugging Chris, looked at Leo out the corner of his eye, and saw him smiling. Gosh, what was happening? Suddenly, he just wanted to break out and cry. And so he did, Phoebe still amazed at his sight.
"I'm sorry," he said, separating himself from Chris and wiping his tears. "It's been so long since I could feel like this. But I have to leave now, son..." Then, he dared to look at Phoebe, but she lowered her eyes, so he didn't say anything.
Leo had approached Chris and put a hand on his shoulder, while Piper observed everything in tears from one corner of the lounge.
Paige didn't take her eyes away from him, suspicious: "Cole, if this is a trick, if you're helping Wyatt, or Barbas, or... "
Cole startled, and ignoring the accusations, said: "Wyatt?" Then he turned to Leo: "Isn't that your family name? "
"Well, yes... and it's the name of our first son..." Leo explained.
Cole was looking surprised: "Your first...? How...?"
"Well, Wyatt was..." Piper tried to explain.
But Chris interrupted her: "We have no time for that, Cole has to return, before they find out that he is here!"
The others nodded.
"O.k., then... Goodbye," he said sadly. Chris hugged him. To Cole's surprise also Leo gave him a hug.
Then the Demon tried do disappear. But nothing happened.
"Shit," he said, "I can't... It doesn't work!"
"What! Why?" Paige asked confused.
"I don't know!" Cole said angry.
Leo stood beside Chris. Giving him a worried look. "You ok son!"
Chris, who looked all the time at his uncle, raised his eyebrow. "What! Yes. You healed me, I'm completely fine."
Phoebe looked at Cole in despise. "How do you always find a way to grab yourself back into our lives! Damn it!"
"Phoebe!" Paige felt pity for Cole, who was nearly crying again.
"We don't have time for this! We have to stop adult Wyatt from killing us all and we have to save little Wyatt, so focus!" Chris yelled out.
"Ok, here we have again our neurotic whitelighter, hehe," said Paige, happy to see him fine. Cole smiled at him, too. "Yes, you're right, I don't want that anything happens to you. I don't want that the punishment I get for this comes from nothing. But still I don't understand why your eldest son would want to kill the youngest, let alone you all!" he said.
"Hey..." intervened Piper for the first time, yet very upset, "when Chris is back and Wyatt is searching him he will be able to sense him and..."
"That will lead me to you..." Wyatt was before all of them, smirking with his arms crossed over his chest. "Yes, you couldn't get me away for long. You know, I ALWAYS find a way, don't forget I AM the twice-blessed..."
Everyone started, freaked out at his sight, except Cole who looked really interested in the young man.
Wyatt continued, rolling his eyes: "Well, I'm starting to get tired of all this. Look, I only want Chris for now, I promise you won't have to see anything I do to him, BUT... I DO want him NOW!"
"No way!" cried Leo, placing himself in front of his son.
Wyatt was becoming more and more irritated. But suddenly, he became aware of the presence of Cole: "Gee, uncle... Sorry, I hadn't seen you. I've heard you escaped from the ghostly plane... But you know, they'll find you. They don't mind if you've got a soul or not. They'll do with you what you deserve..."
He grimaced and Cole frowned and swallowed: "I know."
Wyatt smirked. "Chris! Come here! NOW!" Wyatt then said.
Chris was going to obey, but Leo stopped him.
"Ok... You know, I can oblige you. But this will be funnier." He made Phoebe fly telekinetically towards him.
"No!" Cole cried.
"Yes... I'll kill all of you one by one. Until Chris comes on his own, or SOMEONE brings him," he said staring at Cole. "It's up to you." Then he orbed with Phoebe.
Cole flopped back to the sofa and hid his face in his hands. He cried. That was all too much for him. He still didn't understand all that. Suddenly he felt an arm around him. He looked up. It was Piper who looked at him really friendly in a way: "We'll find a way, to get her back. As always."
Cole didn't know what to say, so he just nodded.
"O.k. I'll go!" Chris said determined.
"No!" Leo, Piper and Cole yelled together.
"I have to!"
"But he will kill you," Cole said, "I didn't bring you back, and Leo didn't heal you, only for being a better fodder for that freaky bastard!"
"Hey, you are talking about my son," Piper said.
"I have to go. I don't care about me. The only important thing is, that Phoebe lives, and that mum and Paige live, and that you Dad will be there for them. And that you Cole will be there, too. The only important thing is that you all keep Wyatt from turning evil. That's all I want. And I have not much time left... So, that's all that matters."
"Not much time? What do you mean?" Piper asked.
Cole was listening carefully to every word he said. Then he looked at the others, especially at Piper. "I think I know what he means," he said, and then he looked to his nephew, "you have not 'been made' yet, right."
Leo and Piper looked at each other and turned red.
"Well, we have not time for that, I got to go," Chris yelled. "I love you all," he said and smiled. Then he wanted to orb.
But Paige was faster. "Crystals," she summoned and Chris was inside the magical cage again.
"Don't do that, please," he begged, "he will kill Phoebe."
"We will not let you go," Piper said.
Chris snorted indignant. "Ok, guys this is really frustrating, you know? This is the second time you imprison me in this cage today! Not to mention the time I spent as Wyatt's guest," he said in a sarcastic tone.
"And not to mention that you almost die" added Piper, "and that I AM your mother, and now, you want it or not, you're gonna stay here! You're grounded, young man!"
Chris looked at Piper shocked, then turned to Cole. "Uncle... " he begged.
But Cole shook his head and raised his hands, to show that he didn't want to be involved: "I'm sorry buddy. You know I'm not the one that makes decisions here. Besides... I think they're right. I don't want to feel again as I felt before."
Chris stared at the floor, and kept silent.
"Ok, then!" Paige said, determined, "Leo, and Cole, I think you should stay here taking care of Chris, while Piper and I go to find Phoebe."
"Like that? Is that your plan?" exclaimed Cole.
Paige shrugged: "Tell me if you get a better one... "
"Well, look, Barbas is still somewhere out there, Wyatt seems to be very powerful, and has Phoebe... I guess you'll need more than you two to get to him."
"That's what we have, Cole..." muttered Piper. Then she turned to Chris, still ashamed of her attitude toward her child, and smiled at him: "I'm sorry, Chris... I just don't want to lose you, ok? I need to speak to you, to be forgiven."
"Oh, mom..." Chris eyes filled with tears, "There's nothing to forgive."
He grinned: "But now, just end all this, bring Phoebe safe and sound, send Wyatt back to the future, and..." he looked at Cole and blushed.
So his uncle-to-be ended the sentence, "... and conceive the boy, for God's sake!" He laughed, making the rest laugh too, and Leo and Piper blush.
"O.k., I think we should go now," Paige said.
"Mum?" Piper turned to her son. "Be careful, he is more powerful than you are able to imagine," he said with real sorrow.
She nodded, then Paige orbed them out.
Cole raised from the sofa: "O.k., Leo? Chris? I think we now have a bit time for explaining some things to me."
Leo sighed.
"No, we have no time. I'll explain everything to you later. But now get me out of here, before it's to late!" Chris yelled.
"What?" Cole asked.
"No way son, you've heard what your mother said," Leo remarked.
"Yes, yes, yes..." Chris was really frustrated: "But Wyatt doesn't only want me, not only me. He also wants to get the sisters killed! And if he kills them I'll be not longer a problem for him!"

& & & & &

Paige orbed them back into that cave. But Phoebe wasn't there.
"And now?" she asked.
Piper looked around. "I was so sure that he would be here."
"Oh I am, mommy!"
The sister turned around, but there was no sight of Wyatt.
"Were are you, son?" yelled Piper.
"Don't you wanna play hide and seek, mommy?" Wyatt's voice resounded full of sarcasm, "You used to like this game, when Chris and I were little kids, you know? "
"Wyatt, ENOUGH!" she yelled, very angry, "Show up and let's deal with this as adults!"
"Where's Phoebe?" asked Paige, her voice trembling.
"Come on, mom, don't be so boring! I'm just playing the same game as you... Where do you have my little brother? If you hide him, I hide aunt Phoebe!" said Wyatt.
Paige struggled to sense her, but he couldn't anymore. "What have you done to her, Wyatt?" she asked, shivering.
"I didn't kill her, if that's what you mean," he answered in a despiteful tone. "Hey, it's not so difficult, just look for her! We have time, until the little crap decides to come on his own... "
"He's not coming. He CAN'T come. So stop this now, Wyatt," said a very angry Piper.

& & & & &

"What do you mean, son?" asked Leo, approaching the forcefield where Chris was kept. "Do you really think he's gonna kill the sisters?"
"But that would change the future too much, I guess," added Cole, pensive.
"Yeah, it will change OUR future, mine especially... But not HIS. He knows that, he'll only have things easier to handle, without you guys to stop him and pose as obstacles, or me coming to the past and all. Please, take me out of here!" Chris was trying to show calm but he was starting to desperate.
"No," Leo said, "I can't believe, even if he is evil now or not, that he will be able to kill his own mother!"
"BUT THAT'S WHAT HE DID!" Chris yelled, in complete frustration about his father's still not believing him.
"What?" Cole said, while Leo was completely shocked by Chris's words and unable to speak.
"He did it, when I was 14," Chris said seriously.
"No," Leo said, he was turning pale. He sat down on the sofa, trying to understand what his son had told him.
Cole looked at him, and then to his nephew: "O.k., I'll help you out, even if they kill me... But take care." He kicked away one crystal and Chris was free.
"Thanks uncle," he said, then orbed away.
Cole kept looking at the place where Chris had been a couple of seconds before, and then turned to Leo.
"Are you ok?" he asked, but the Elder didn't answer, just stared at the wall.
Cole chuckled and said: "And you all thought I was evil when Piper killed me... "
At those words, Leo turned to him with a burning look, at which Cole adopted a grave expression again: "Ok, not funny... Sorry."
Finally, Leo stood up. "I cannot let this happen." he said, determined.
"Well, then, what do we do?"
Leo was looking at the wall again: "I can't let him kill my family."
Cole's heart started to beat strongly. He frowned and mumbled: "What do you mean...? HE is your family. What are you thinking about?"
The former demon and source of all evil noticed that Leo, the pacifist, was avoiding his look, and that wasn't good. In the past, it had been him that had to do it all the time, to hide from the rest what he was thinking. What he was going to do... He grabbed his face and obliged his brother in law to look him in the eyes: Leo's were red and tears fought to go out.
"Leo, no..."
"He's going to kill my family, Cole."

& & & & &

"Yes, I can, mom. I'm here... "
Chris's voice paralyzed Piper's heart.
"Wyatt, release aunt Phoebe. You don't need to do this now. You know that. It wouldn't make sense... "
Wyatt finally uncloaked himself, and let them see him: "Welcome, my brother... Mom thought you wouldn't be able to escape from wherever she kept you... It seems she underestimated you" He was smirking.
Chris ignored him and repeated: "Release her, let them go, and let's go back to the future. I'm tired..."
"Oh, Chris, you don't know how to have fun!" answered Wyatt, feigning disappointment.
"Let them leave, Wyatt," Chris begged, "I will not run and hide, I swear by mom's life. I'll go with you, back to the future... and you can do what you want to me." He spread his arm, to let Wyatt see, that he had no weapon or something... that it was just him.
"No!" Piper yelled.
Chris turned around to her. "Mom, please, it's our only chance," he said with tears in his eyes.
Wyatt was grinning. Then he orbed Phoebe into the cave. "So come over to me, and I let her go."
Chris nodded and went over, step by step.

& & & & &

"No, Leo, you can't to that." Cole yelled at him.
"I have to!" Leo said with a lot of distress in his face.
"You can't kill your own son," he yelled, "not the little version!"
"But..."
"No buts... what if you fail? What if THIS is exactly the reason to let him become evil?"
Leo looked at him astonished. He never thought about that before, about the real reason for all that... He shook his head, trying to get a clear thought on all that.
"Leo," Cole started again, "we have to find a way, to stop adult Wyatt first, and then we'll save the young one. By they way, were is he?"
"He is save, he's at the magical school."
"A magical school?" Cole had never heard of that before.
"But what shall we do?" Leo asked desperate.
"I don't know," Cole said. He wanted to help, but without his powers...
"But I maybe know a way!" another voice said.
The two men turned around. "Penny," Leo said surprised.
"Oh... Hi." said Cole, surprised, "Who has summoned you? I thought you were a ghost..."
Penny smiled: "Well, actually I could ask you the same thing. But I guess we don't have much time now, so let's go to the point."
"We're all ears..." answered Cole, smirking.
Leo nodded: "What do we do? I don't want to hurt anybody. I'm completely lost... I don't know what to do!"
His eyes were still watery, and this made Penny stare at him full of sorrow.
"Ok... Look..."

& & & & &

Chris was just a few steps from his brother, but Phoebe was still tightly grasped by Wyatt's clasps.
"I won't move a single step more until you release her, Wyatt."
The blonde man rolled his eyes. They were exhausting his patience. Suddenly, he threw Phoebe to the ground, at Piper's and Paige's feet, and raised his forcefield covering Chris and himself.
"No!" cried Piper running towards her sons while Paige helped her sister to stand up.
"Are you ok?"
Phoebe nodded, her eyes flowing with tears: "I am, Paige, but he isn't. Wyatt is so full of hatred, and Chris is so afraid and sad... I can't bear all this mixture of feelings. And Piper... Piper is devastated!"
Chris turned to the sisters before Wyatt caught him: "Go! Leave NOW!"
"No..." Piper was weeping, helpless, as Wyatt reached her little son, and grabbed him by his neck.
"Go... " repeated Chris feebly, gasping for air, "before it's too late."
With his other hand, Wyatt was forming an energy ball ready to kill the three sisters.
"It's already too late, "he said coldly, glaring at them with icy eyes.
"No," Chris cowed. Wyatt was taking his powers from him. Chris couldn't breathe yet but he had to do something.
So he took his last energies and turned them against his brother. Surprised Wyatt let him free so Chris threw his brother against the wall.
With his last ounce of strength, Chris turned around to the sisters. "Leave, please," he begged. Then he broke down.
"No!" Piper yelled. But Paige held her back. And when she noticed that Wyatt got back on his feet she orbed her sisters out to their home.
Wyatt was slowly walking over to his little brother. At this moment, he had no need to hurry.
Chris was still lying powerless on the ground. Wyatt grinned, while his little brother turned around to look him in the eyes.
"Just end this," Chris said.
"If that's what you want..." Wyatt answered and prepared an energyball.
Chris closed his eyes.
Wyatt struck out, but before he could kill Chris, his little brother disappeared. He hadn't orbed away, he just ended in smoke.
Wyatt looked bewildered at the place, where his brother had been lying just a second before: "That isn't funny anymore!"

(Chapter 4 written by Belén, Chrissy.W.x and Dark Angel)