Author's note: Hey guys! Long time, huh? I'm back...briefly...in the Charmed fandom. This falls...let's see. About six months after Chris didn't die. Enjoy and remember to review!
Providing Help
Piper managed to reach the phone on only the fourth ring. "Hello?"
"Piper?"
"Kaia. Is something wrong?"
It was a reasonable question; Kaia tended to stay away from them unless she or they needed help with something.
"Yeah. You could say that. Are Paige or Leo with you?"
"No, no one's home. What is it?"
"Something's wrong with Chris. Get one of them. Leo, probably, he knows where we are."
"What's wrong with him?" Piper asked. Covering the phone, she called, "Leo!"
"Just get here. Fast."
The phone clicked off as Leo orbed in. "What?"
"Get Paige or Phoebe and get them back here."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Something's wrong with Chris, we have to go get him, they have to stay here with the kids."
Leo's gaze went unfocused for a minute. "I can't sense him. At least, not clearly."
"But he's still alive?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Go get my sisters. Hurry."
Leo vanished and, only a minute or so later, reappeared with Paige.
"Paige, stay with the kids?" Piper asked, already holding out her hand to Leo.
"Sure, but what's going on?"
"Later." To Leo, she added, "She said you knew where they were."
Leo nodded and they vanished.
The room they rematerialized in was empty, but after a second a young boy darted in. Seeing them, he blurted, "They're in here!" spun, and ran back out again.
Kaia was sitting on the floor in the next room, Chris's head in her lap. He was pale, sweating and shaking. Another, older man knelt beside her, carefully and expertly checking Chris for broken bones.
"What happened?" Piper demanded. Leo knelt next to them, hands already glowing.
Kaia picked up a wooden dart from the floor beside her and held it out towards Piper. "I wouldn't touch it." she warned. "It's aimed at him, but it might not do you any good."
Leo leaned back. "It's not working."
"What do you mean, aimed at him?" Piper asked. "What do you mean, not working?" she added, looking at Leo.
Leo and Kaia exchanged glances. "I mean it's not working. I can't even tell what's wrong." He reached for the dart in Kaia's hand.
"Don't touch it!" she said sharply. "Were you listening just now?"
"I'm sorry, I must have been busy trying to heal my son."
"Don't take that tone with me, you..."
"Hey!" the other man interrupted sharply. "Cole's in the room, Tara, and you don't have time for this."
"Right." she muttered. "The dart—it's based on a Darklighter poison, but it's been altered to affect Chris stronger—hit his witch side as well."
"Maybe it's not for Chris, maybe it's for Paige or Wyatt." Piper suggested. "Or all three—they're all at the Manor."
Kaia shook her head. "The whole thing's wrapped in a spell. To affect someone time displaced. It's definitely aimed at Chris. This Chris."
"He's not hurt." the older man said quietly.
"Thanks, Merrick." Kaia said absently.
"But why can't you heal him?" Piper asked.
"Part of the spell? I don't know." Leo shrugged helplessly.
Merrick said something softly to Kaia, using what Piper guessed was Irish. Kaia shook her head and answered, "Won't help. But thank you."
"What?" Leo asked.
"He offered some of the Princess's medicine." she said absently.
"Let's get him back to the Manor." Piper said suddenly. "Maybe there's something in the Book."
"Kaia?" Leo asked, reaching for Piper's hand on one side and Chris's on the other.
Kaia looked to Merrick. "Merrick, I have to go."
"You're leaving, Cousin Tara?" the boy asked sadly.
"Yes, sweetie, I have to go help Chris."
"Time for accepting. Turn, turn, turn." His eyes were distant.
"Be well, Cole." Kaia said with a faint smile.
"Hurry home." Merrick told her, lifting the boy out of the way.
"My word." she whispered, and vanished in a swirl of orbs.
The orb, as usual, made her dizzy and by the time she'd collected herself, Piper and Leo were lifting Chris onto the couch. Paige orbed back in, having taken the kids upstairs. Kaia hissed as the weight left her legs, rising to stretch them.
"Cramp?" Paige asked.
"Bit. It's fine."
"What happened?" Paige asked Piper, and Kaia took the opportunity to kneel beside the couch, watching Chris for a moment. Although his eyes were open, he wasn't seeing anything, and his temperature had risen even more.
"Kaia." Someone touched her arm lightly, and she was on her feet before realizing who it was.
"Sorry…yes, Leo. Sorry. You startled me."
"Piper asked what happened." he said cautiously.
"We were outside. He thought an insect had bitten him." She produced the dart again, but still wouldn't let any of them touch it. "We went inside, I turned away to get him a glass of water. When I turned back it was kind of like he was in shock…like he was there, but he wasn't. He looked at me for a second, and held out the dart, and I took it, and then…" she shrugged. "Chris fall down."
"Chris fall down?" Paige repeated.
"I don't know who shot him. They blinked, or shimmered, or whatever, right away. I couldn't track them."
"But why can't Leo heal him?" Piper asked.
"Leo can't heal him?" Paige repeated.
"Someone knows an awful lot about him to fashion this." Kaia said, ignoring the double question. "They made it for him and they knew where he'd be—which is impressive, since we didn't know until a while ago."
"Someone's tracking him." Leo murmured.
"Paige, get the crystals." Piper said quickly. Paige grabbed the box from the sideboard and the sisters quickly began setting them around the room.
"Why can't I heal him?" Leo asked softly, leaning forward to catch Kaia's eye.
"I don't know."
"Thariin..."
"I don't know! Do you think I want this for him?"
"I don't know what you want, and that scares me." Leo said carefully.
"Him safe."
"That's it?"
She looked back at Chris, brushing his hair off his forehead. "It's enough." Looking back at him, she added, "Don't call me Thariin, please."
"It's your name."
"Not for you."
"Crystals are done." Piper said, kneeling beside them again.
"What was your cousin saying?" Leo asked thoughtfully.
"Coleen? Not a clue. At least, I know what the words were. I don't know what he meant."
"How does that work?" Paige asked.
"Coleen's—not pre-cog, exactly, but he knows things. That boy sees deep, deeper than most."
"Fascinating, really, but that doesn't explain why Leo can't heal him." Piper said sharply.
"I could try." Paige offered. "It worked before."
"All right." Leo agreed.
Kaia moved out of the way, letting Paige in beside the couch. Paige gripped one of Leo's hands, and they tried together. The familiar glow appeared, but it didn't work.
"Leo, why is this not working?" Piper demanded.
"I don't know." Leo was watching Kaia, who was talking softly to Chris and paying no attention to anyone else. "Kaia." He reached across to touch her arm.
"What?"
"Help us."
"Whoah, Elf magic and Charmed magic." Paige said quickly.
"We're not using Charmed magic, we're using Whitelighter magic." Leo said patiently.
"And we don't have time to argue, fine." Kaia said quickly. She caught Leo's free hand.
"Leo..." Piper said.
"It's Ok." Leo said quickly. "Ready?"
"Yeah."
The glow was stronger this time, and shaded oddly blue. Kaia gasped as it gathered between them before sinking into Chris. Chris echoed the gasp, eyes flying open.
"Chris." Piper said, relieved. "Hey, sweetie. How do you feel?"
"Confused." he decided after a minute. "What happened?"
"I have to go." Kaia said abruptly. With some difficulty, she released Leo's hand; she'd gripped it so tightly her muscles had cramped.
"Something wrong?" Paige asked.
"No. I need to go do something." She looked down at Chris. "I'll come see you later, all right? Get some rest. Sleep until you're well."
"Yeah." He looked back at Piper as Kaia left. "What happened?"
"Someone attacked you." Leo supplied. "They altered a Darklighter poison for you."
"Altered it." Chris repeated.
"To attack a witch as well, and then enspelled the whole thing to hit someone out of their own time."
"Oh." He laughed a little. "I must have upset someone, I guess."
"You should get some rest." Paige said suddenly.
"I feel fine." Chris protested.
"Really?" Paige grinned wickedly. "Sit up."
He did so. "Good. Lie back down."
He did that, too. "Paige, what're you...?"
"Sit up again."
Piper had a hand over her mouth to hide a laugh; Leo was staring from one to another of them. "What are you doing?" Chris demanded.
"Oh, not me." Paige said innocently. "Kaia. Something about the way she heals—you're susceptible, she called it, until you sleep."
"Anyone can just order him to do anything?" Piper asked.
"I guess." Paige agreed. "She didn't exactly explain it in detail."
"When Gideon stabbed him." Leo said suddenly.
"Yup. Once you sleep it wears off; but anything you're told to do lasts, 'cause last time she told you..."
"...Not to be any trouble until I felt better." Chris said slowly.
"And you weren't." Paige agreed. "Now. Lie back down and get some rest."
"Paige." Chris protested, even as he lay back down.
"Sorry, but it's for your own good." Paige said blithely.
"Yeah, but you don't have to..." he interrupted himself to yawn. "Enjoy it so much." he finished.
"He has a point." Piper agreed.
"Tomaytoe, tomahtoe." Paige said airily. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to look in the Book of Shadows to see if I can figure out who did this."
Chris slept uneasily, held asleep by both Paige and Kaia's instructions but suffering nightmares most of the time.
"Chris."
The voice saying his name was a long way away, almost too far to hear.
"Chris."
So he ignored it, caught up in his nightmares.
"Chris. Wake up."
Still too far away...
"It's all right, Chris. You're fine. You're well."
Chris bolted awake, sitting up for a second before flopping back down. "Ow..."
"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't think. Are you ok?"
He reached to touch the side of his neck. "It doesn't hurt."
"That's not what I meant, Chris."
"I know what you meant, Kaia." He shoved himself into a sitting position.
"I'm sorry. It didn't occur to me—I was trying to help you."
"I know you were." He ran his hands through his hair. "It's fine. Did you finish whatever you had to?"
Kaia opened her hand to reveal the dart. Chris edged away, eyeing her cautiously.
"Don't worry." She closed her hand and then opened it again, revealing only dust this time. "Yeah. I finished."
"Why couldn't Dad heal me?" he asked quietly.
"I don't know."
"Kaia..."
"I'd like to know, too." Leo said from the door. Kaia rolled her eyes, rising and wandering away towards the window.
"I've told you both I don't know."
"Time for accepting. Turn, turn, turn." Leo recited.
"I told you I don't know about that, either."
Chris looked questioningly at Leo. "Something her cousin said." Leo explained.
"Coleen?" Chris levered himself up off the couch. "Kaia..."
"I don't know, Chris!" Her voice was desperate.
"You've guessed. Or you think you have. Coleen's never too complicated for you to figure out eventually."
"He—it's not—" She shook her head.
"Kaia." Chris repeated.
"I hate you." she said wearily.
"No you don't. Come on. Tell us what you think."
Kaia grimaced. "Fine. But sit back down. You look like you're about to fall over." Chris sat, watching her expectantly. "And you, come inside. You don't want the sisters hearing this."
Leo raised an eyebrow, coming further into the room. "Why not?"
"Because unless I'm very much mistaken, Chris hasn't told them he's my Champion."
"So?" Chris asked.
"So that's why. Somewhere, subconsciously, you've accepted it. And that takes you out of the Elders' protection and under mine."
"I don't..." Chris frowned. "It should still have worked."
"Those under my protection can't be touched by other magic. Not unless they and I allow it. And you were too unconscious to allow anything."
"That's ridiculous." Chris protested.
"If it weren't for that the dart would have worked right away. As it was you were only affected by the poison and not the spell."
Leo stirred. "So why did it work at all?"
"It still had poison. That I couldn't do anything about." She looked back at Chris. "It doesn't have to change anything, all right? I'm not asking anything from you. Remember that." She frowned suddenly. "Actually, scratch that. I am asking you one thing."
"What?" Chris asked warily.
"It's not hard." she assured him. Looking at Leo, she added thoughtfully, "It's also not something the Elders need to know about. Stay if you want to, Leo, but stay as his father, not as his Elder, all right?"
Leo folded his arms, not budging, and she turned back to Chris. He looked like he was about two seconds from just orbing away.
"Relax, Chris." she said softly. "You can say no. This is only a request, not a demand."
"What is it?" he asked.
"My Champions usually carry something of mine. It's...It means I can find them more easily if I need to, they can find me, and for you it'll show any demon who knows me that you have my protection. In better days it would have been one of the daggers, but since I only have one now I can't do that. So..." She fanned out her hand in front of her, studying it for a moment before pulling off her ring—the only jewelry Chris had ever seen her wear, besides her ever-present necklace. "I was married once. My husband made this for me."
"I can't take that." Chris said softly.
She continued as though she hadn't heard him. "There's no power in it—or very little, anyway. It was just a silly little present he thought I'd like."
"Kaia, I'm not taking it from you." Chris repeated.
She looked up, smiling. "Sure you are. It's not like I'm going to forget him without it. And he'd approve. He'd like you."
She held it out. Chris stared at it without moving, and she said, "You don't need to wear it. You don't need to keep it with you. If you take it from me and then put it away and never look at it again...as long as you don't give it to anyone, it'll work."
"How's it going to show demons anything if he doesn't carry it?" Leo asked.
Kaia looked over at him. "It'll—imprint is not the word I want, but close enough. Any demon who knows me will get a vibe. They'll know."
"A vibe." Leo repeated. "Tell me, if some of your Champions never know who they are, how do you get them to carry something of yours?"
Chris lifted the ring from her hand; she smiled at him, looking back to tell Leo, "There are ways to give people things. No one ever takes them against their will, Leo. There's always a choice."
"Why is the triquetra on this?" Chris asked. Leo moved around behind him to look. It did seem to be formed of triquetras, joined top-to-bottom.
"It's not. That's the Celtic eternity symbol." Kaia said. "It's very like it, isn't it?"
"Very." Leo agreed.
"We were using it first, Leo, so you needn't be mad." She traced one symbol lightly. "The triquetra's the symbol for good magic in general and the Charmed Ones in particular, right?"
"Yeah." Chris nodded.
"That's my symbol, but it's also used to represent Ireland. You see it all over the place there." She closed his fingers lightly over the ring. "I'm gonna go, ok?"
"Already?" Chris slid the ring into his pocket.
"Yeah. You're ok, right?" She glanced at Leo.
"Yeah, but..."
Chris broke off as Paige stuck her head into the room. "Hey. You feeling better?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
"We think we know who it was. We're about to summon him now. You want in?"
"Sure." Chris agreed. Glancing at Kaia, he added, "Come."
Kaia made a face. "I hate vanquishes, they always smell funny."
"Yeah, well, I still need to talk to you, but I want to do this first."
"You're the boss." she sighed, following him.
"Really? Since when?" Paige asked.
"Ready?" Chris asked, coming into the attic. Behind him, Kaia moved to one side of the door, leaving room for Leo and Paige.
"Come here." Piper brandished an athame at him.
"Why?" He came to stand next to her.
"Since this guy was aiming for you, we're going to put your blood in the summoning potion." Phoebe explained.
Kaia stirred. "I thought you used spells for summoning."
"Depends on what we're summoning." Leo explained.
"Oh." She winced as Piper squeezed Chris' finger, letting the blood fall into the potion pot.
"Ok, that does it." Piper announced, filling a potion bottle and handing it to Phoebe.
"You stay there." Chris said to Kaia. "We don't want you getting mixed up in the spells."
"They wouldn't work if I...oh. Right." Nodding, she backed up right to the door.
Piper glanced at her sisters. "Ready? Chris, you should back up, too."
Chris took a step or two back. Phoebe nodded and threw the potion, aiming neatly for the center of Paige's crystal cage. It broke, releasing a cloud of smoke, and everyone automatically moved back.
When it cleared a blond haired man was standing in the cage. "Huh. Deja vu." Phoebe remarked. "He looks like Pyralis."
"Traitor." the demon said, almost conversationally.
"No one asked you." Chris said.
"You know him?" Leo asked in surprise.
"This is Ahriman. He was one of Wyatt's toadies." Chris said. "He took it more personally than most when I came back here."
"So how'd he get here? That timeline doesn't exist any more, right?" Piper asked.
"He must have come back before the timeline altered." Chris guessed. "We know it was the same up until I went back with Bianca."
"Does that matter?" Kaia asked quietly.
"Yeah. We need to know if there's more coming." Leo told her.
"Are there?" Chris asked, aiming the question at Ahriman.
"Like I'd tell you." he snarled.
"We could vanquish you." Paige offered.
"Then you'll never know." he said with a shrug.
Kaia shifted position slightly, folding her arms. Paige turned and picked up a potion, brandishing it threateningly. Ahriman's eyes widened and he tried to take a step back, coming up against the wall of the cage.
"So start talking." Paige ordered.
"No one else. The spell was for one."
"So how do you know no one else came with a different spell?" Piper asked.
"The timeline changed just after I got here. The future's different now, there's no one there to send anyone back." He brushed against the wall of the cage, sending a shower of sparks raining over himself. "Ow, damnit!"
Piper glanced at Chris, who nodded. "He always was sensitive to the timeline. That's how Wyatt knew when I was. So how long have you been here?"
"A while." He smirked at Chris. "Cute family you keep visiting."
Kaia's eyes widened and she pushed forward. The cage sparked wildly, and Ahriman yelled again.
"Kaia." Chris said warningly, but he made no effort to stop her.
"What did you do?" she demanded.
"Kaia!" Piper protested.
"That's my family he's talking about." she said tightly. "What did you do to them, Ahriman?"
"Nothing." he gasped, trying unsuccessfully to shield himself from the sparks.
"He can't tell you anything if he's dead, Kaia." Despite his words, Chris still made no attempt to stop her.
The look she gave him could have killed, but she backed up until the cage stopped sparking.
"Are they in danger?" Paige asked, brandishing the potion again. Ahriman just smirked.
"Vanquish me and be done, witch. I'll tell you nothing more."
"Who writes your lines?" Paige mocked.
"Piper," Kaia said calmly, "this is the part where you vanquish him, right?"
"Uh, yeah. That'd be this part."
"Don't."
"Sorry?"
"Let me have him." She took an experimental step forward, watching the cage start to spark again. "For whatever he did to my family, let me have him."
"You can't kill him." Chris told her, but whether it was warning or reminder they couldn't tell.
"I don't need to kill him." She smiled as one of the sparks caught Ahriman's hand and he cursed, clapping his other hand over it.
Chris caught Piper's eye and shook his head slightly, trying to convey the message without speaking.
"Sorry, Kaia." Paige said. "We have dibs. Back up, there."
Kaia blinked, startled, and backed up. "Paige..."
"He attacked our family first. You don't even know if he did anything to yours."
"Yeah, but..."
"Nope. We caught him, we're keeping him."
Kaia looked back at Ahriman. "If harm comes to them because of something you did, I will take it out on you. Understand?"
"Not if they've vanquished me." he pointed out, sounding almost bored.
"Oh no, Ahriman. Even if they've vanquished you." She stepped forward, ignoring the sparks. "I'll resurrect you. And what I do won't be as quick and easy as a vanquish. Count on that."
"Ok." Chris' hands descended onto her shoulders and he turned her bodily around, steering her towards the door. "Good job. I think you really put the fear of you into him—into everyone else, too." He caught Piper's eye as he passed, shrugging helplessly.
"I meant every word of it." she said fiercely, just before they passed out of hearing down the stairs.
"Well." Paige turned back to Ahriman. "You can tell us what we want to know, or we can vanquish you and then she can have you."
"I didn't do anything to the stupid kid. No one else came with me. What else do you wanna know?" he demanded.
"The family's safe?" Leo asked. Ahriman looked away. "They're not safe. What's going on?"
"There's a high price on Chris' head. He goes there quite often nowadays. That information's worth a lot to the right people."
"People, or demons?" Piper demanded.
"Yes." Ahriman smirked at them.
"Leo, go warn them. Right now. Go." Piper ordered. Startled, Leo orbed out.
"Honey, shouldn't you send Chris? He knows them better." Phoebe suggested.
"He's also the only person here Kaia listens to, and she really wants to kill him." She jerked her head towards Ahriman.
"Why does she listen to him so much?" Paige asked. "She doesn't listen to us."
"Who knows?" Piper said. "Good thing she does, though."
"They haven't told you." Ahriman smirked.
"Who hasn't told us what?" Paige demanded.
"Why she listens to him. Why he listens to her. They haven't told you." He laughed at the look on Piper's face.
"So tell us." Phoebe said.
Ahriman smirked. "What's in it for me?"
"A lot less pain." Piper snapped.
"Not good enough."
Leo orbed in. "OK. They're away." He blinked as he saw their expressions. "What's going on?"
"Ahriman was just about to share with the group." Paige said, taking a step towards the cage.
"Share what?" Leo asked, puzzled.
"Whatever it is between Chris and Kaia." Piper told him.
"Why?" Leo asked, looking at Ahriman. "You can't trust what he says anyway."
"You know, don't you." Ahriman said in delight. "This just gets better!"
"Leo…" Piper said warningly.
"You can't trust Ahriman." Chris said from the door. "He'd lie to his mother, if he had one. He loves spreading lies to divide people."
"Liar." Ahriman protested. "I never lie."
Chris spread his hands in a 'there you have it' gesture, and everyone looked back at Leo.
"I've never heard of him." he reminded them. "But it's the kind of thing demons do."
"So he doesn't really know anything?" Paige asked, eyes narrowed.
"You can't trust anything he says." Chris repeated.
"Chris…" Piper protested.
"Just vanquish him and let this be over, please?" Chris asked.
"She promised!" Ahriman protested. "You know she did!"
"Mom…" Chris said softly.
Piper studied him for a moment before abruptly throwing the vanquishing potion at the cage. Ahriman burst into flames and vanished.
"Thank you." Chris said, staring at the floor where Ahriman had been standing.
"Who promised what?" Paige asked.
"I don't know." Chris said quickly. "He was probably lying, trying to gain some time. Maybe find a way out."
"Chris," Phoebe said carefully, "he said there was something between you and Kaia."
"A lot of respect and not much else."
"She listens to you when she doesn't listen to us." Paige commented.
Chris looked at Piper. "She's already explained that."
"Not to them." Piper jerked her head towards her sisters. "Why don't you try?"
"Kaia…took it on herself to help me save Wyatt. And when that was done, she was…I guess in the habit of helping me. She says she's trying to make my life normal." He flashed a grin at Piper. "She thought you'd appreciate that."
Piper smiled faintly, acknowledging it. "Yeah. I guess."
"So you just…go along with her?" Paige asked.
Chris shrugged. "Easier'n arguing with her. Her family's kind of fun, anyway." Catching their looks, he added quickly, "You guys are still my first priority. She knows that. I just…" he gestured helplessly. "Life outside magic."
Phoebe nodded. "I guess we can understand that, Chris."
"Thank you." He looked at Leo. "Talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah. Sure."
He followed Chris downstairs, to where Kaia was standing near the window in the sitting room. "What is it?"
Kaia turned, smiling. "I need to fix Chris up so this doesn't happen again. Make it so Whitelighter magic can work on him no matter what."
"And…" Leo said, when she didn't elaborate.
"I need your help."
"All right. You might want to do it for Charmed magic as well."
"You come up with an explanation for the girls, and I'll gladly do it. I wanted to anyway. Your son's stubborn."
Leo shook his head. "What do you need?"
"When you were a hippy," she said thoughtfully, tugging at her top and ignoring the way he blushed, "you and some others put on a light show with orbs."
"I remember." Leo agreed. "That's what you want?"
"It has to be Whitelighter magic. Elder magic has a different feel to it, but orbs are Whitelighter enough."
"Chris can orb." Leo commented.
"He can't do what you can do. Please, just throw the orbs, Leo. Chris, come here."
Chris came to stand beside her. "What do I do?"
"Put the ring on and don't do any magic. I mean that."
Chris nodded, pulling the ring from a pocket and slipping it on. When Kaia nodded, Leo threw some orbs into the air, making them form the triquetra.
"Very appropriate." Kaia said with a smile, reaching into the middle of the group with a grin. Turning to Chris, she added, "You ready? Gonna sting for a minute."
"Yeah. Go for it."
Smiling, she caught one of the orbs and slung it at him; startled, he almost jerked out of the way but caught himself, and the orb passed into his chest.
"Ouch!" he hissed.
"Don't touch." she reminded him.
"I'm not. Ow!"
"Relax. Almost done." She glanced at Leo. "Move them."
"What?"
"Change them. Make them look different."
"Why?"
"Static magic's no good. Has to be active magic."
Leo nodded and the orbs shifted, forming the eternity symbol she'd shown them a while ago.
"Perfect." she murmured. "You can let them go now."
The orbs fizzled out and Chris sighed, one hand going up to his chest. "Ow. Did that have to hurt that much?"
"It was your idea, Chris. Anyway, it didn't hurt as much as it might have. Thanks, Leo."
"No problem. So he can be healed now?"
"Yeah. But anything else…demon spells, Charmed spells, other witches…they'll have no effect on him."
"Kind of invincible." Chris said with a grin.
"Not so much. A fireball can still burn you. An athame can kill you. You just can't be enspelled." She glanced at the clock. "Crap. I have to go. Taylor's expecting me."
"Hold on." Chris said suddenly. "You…"
"Me what?" She looked back at him.
"Your necklace is different."
She glanced down at it in surprise. "Yeah. It is."
Leo glanced at it; he'd never really noticed it before, truth be told. "That's the eternity symbol again, right?"
"Yeah." A white triangle sat on a background that looked like green glass; the eternity symbol was in the triangle, as though someone had carefully wiped the white away.
"Does it often change?" Chris asked.
"No. It won't, now, for a while."
"What is it?"
"It's indicative of my Champions. The symbol's for Chris; the area around it is Connor. The green color--never mind, that's something else." She smiled quickly. "I really have to go. I'll talk to you later, Chris, all right?"
"Yeah." He nodded, and she turned to Leo.
"What's the green for?"
"It doesn't matter." she protested.
"It might."
She shook her head. "The green's for a Champion who's not manifested yet, all right? Now can I go?"
"No. Who?"
"Nu-uh. You don't get to know that. He wouldn't be one of yours anyway, so I'm not stealing him from anyone."
Chris blinked at that. "You steal people?"
"No." she said absently. "Yes. Sort of. Technically, you should be following the Elders, not me."
"You said I could follow the Elders if I wanted."
"You can. That's the sort of part. It's up to you who you want to follow, but my way's always open to you. The Elders might not take you back once you leave."
"Yes they will." Leo said without thinking.
"Ok. So you have options, Chris. Take your time with them. No one's in a hurry. Leo, I have to go."
Leo nodded, realizing as Piper had two years earlier that Kaia wouldn't leave without specific permission. "Yeah. Kaia…thanks."
"Not a problem. Think I was letting him go after all the trouble he's given me?"
"What trouble?" Chris protested.
"I have re-ordered time, remember?"
The words meant nothing to Leo, but they obviously did to Chris. "Yeah, but how many times have I had to let your cousin empath all over me?"
"That's not going to be a problem anymore." Kaia said ruefully. "If Merrick ever talks to me again, I'll be impressed."
"What? Why?" Chris asked in surprise.
"Ask your father, I have to go. Taylor's looking for me. I'll see you soon."
Before either could object, she was gone.
"What's wrong with Merrick?" Chris asked Leo.
"Ahriman sold his address as a place where you go often." Leo explained. "I moved them out earlier."
"Where'd they go?" Chris asked.
"Shayla said she knew somewhere. I wasn't paying that much attention, I wanted to get back here. Good thing I did, too, Ahriman was about to tell the sisters about you."
"I'd like to know how he knew." Chris muttered. "I'm not even sure about it."
Leo shrugged. "Someone was bound to pick up on it eventually. Whether you believe it or not, being her Champion gives you…" he frowned, looking at him.
"A vibe?" Chris suggested, twisting the ring around on his finger and then pulling it off.
"Yeah. A vibe." Leo held out his hand and Chris dropped the ring into it. "Chris, there's power in this."
"Yeah." Chris agreed. "Since a minute or two ago."
"The spell?" Leo asked in surprise.
"I guess." Chris took it back, slipping it into a pocket again.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Leo asked carefully. Chris was oddly sensitive about Kaia.
"Yeah. It makes it easier to find her, like she said." He glanced up. "You don't trust it?"
"I don't understand it. Kaia's magic all feels the same to me, I can't tell what she's doing."
"I can. Don't worry about it." Chris turned and left the room.
"Sometimes you say stupid things."
Piper looked up, startled. Chris had been helping behind P3's bar for the last couple of nights, covering for a sick bartender. He'd been doing really well, actually, and she was considering hiring him full-time.
Tonight, however, a random woman had just leaned over the bar and told him he said stupid things.
"Yeah? Like what?" Chris asked, apparently not bothered at all.
"Like don't worry about it. That didn't help him."
"What should I have told him? Can't exactly explain it, can I?"
"Chris?" Piper called. "You need help?"
"No, thanks." Chris grinned at her quickly.
"Sure? I could call Steve..."
"Bouncer, right?" the woman asked.
"Right." Chris agreed. "Go home and I'll talk to you later."
She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and he laughed and gestured her away. She smiled at Piper as she left; Piper returned the smile, though she very obviously had no idea who she was.
Once she was gone Piper turned to Chris. "Who was that?"
"Uh—" Chris thought for a minute. "Rebecca."
"Uh-huh. And Rebecca is..."
"Oh. Sorry. Rebecca's a glamour Thariin uses to get into places like this. Kaia's too young."
"And you know this how, exactly?" Piper asked.
"Hm? She told me. Can we talk about this later?" Without waiting for an answer he turned to serve the next customer.
They drove home early the next morning. Chris could have orbed them, of course, but Piper preferred to drive to avoid awkward questions—plus she enjoyed the time spent with her young-old son.
They'd been driving for ten minutes in silence. Whenever Piper glanced over, Chris was slumped in his seat, staring out the window.
"You ok?" she asked finally.
"Hm? Yeah. Just tired."
"Uh-huh." She sighed. "D'you want to tell me about Rebecca?"
"It's just a glamour." Chris said carefully.
"That's not what I meant."
"I know." he agreed. "I'm not sure why it bothers you, though."
"It doesn't bother me. It just surprises me that you know her glamours that well."
"Rebecca kind of sticks in the mind." he muttered. Catching Piper's sideways glance, he added, louder, "Thariin designed the glamour to—appeal to guys."
"I noticed that." Piper agreed mildly. Chris flushed, looking out his window again.
They'd reached the Manor before he spoke again. "I'm not in love with her."
Piper turned off the engine, paying it much more attention than it really needed. "Where did that come from?"
"I know you think I am."
"No we don't. It's just...Chris, you did kind of get friendly with her very fast."
Chris shrugged. "I guess. It's nice to go somewhere else, sometimes. Life outside magic, like I said."
Piper nodded. "I understand that, Chris, I'm not trying to make you stop. Just...be careful, Ok?"
Chris nodded. "Always."
Piper hugged him—somewhat awkwardly, since they were both still sitting in the car—and they climbed out and headed up the steps to the house.
"What did she mean, anyway? You say stupid things?"
"Just—something I said that she disagreed with. It's not anything important." Grinning, he added, "Don't worry about it."