Disclaimer: Charmed is not mine.

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews, I really appreciated them. I know it's been a while but I've got so many fics going right now and none of them are finished. It's getting frustrated.

Anyway, I hope you like this. It's not as emotional as the last chapter. I could use some ideas as to where I should go from here... I have one but I'm not really loving it. If someone has an idea they'd like me to persue, I'm all for it. )

Thanks and PLEASE REVIEW!!

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The silence was thick and choking them all when Piper made a sobbing noise, "I'm gonna be sick," she said, holding her hand to her mouth as she rushed out of the attic.

No one moved as they saw her leave, as they heard her wretch in the bathroom. They were all frozen, all reliving what they'd just seen.

It was Paige who moved first. She went after Piper and a few minutes later re-entered the attic with a very pale and shaky older sister.

"Oh god, honey, sit down," Phoebe gushed, a moment later, but Piper shook her head and pulled out of Paige's hold.

She walked over to Chris.

The image of his small face; tear-stained and smeared with blood -- her blood -- seared into her soul.

Their eyes met and for the first time he made no attempt to hide what was there. There was no point in it, she knew…

She had seen what he had seen…she could see the way he saw.

Could see…

… what it was like to lose your mother like that…

… to see her die…

… to feel her slip away…

And then have her in your life again. See her alive, and well.

To be with her…

… talk with her…

…work with her…

… and be absolutely no one to her.

For the first time Piper realized how truly devastating it must have been for him to be here… with her… and have her look at him with the eyes of a stranger.

For the first time she saw the raw pain in his eyes as he was forced to make a distinction between Piper and Mom.

There weren't words enough in any language to express what she was feeling, to express what she knew he was feeling…

Slowly she reached out and wrapped her arms around him.

He tensed as she slipped her arms around his neck, but as she pulled him down towards her, he closed his eyes.

And with his eyes closed it was easy to imagine that this was Mom.

The hug was brief, it had to be. He couldn't let his guard down for long… couldn't forget for long…

… this was Piper, not Mom…

…Piper not Mom…

…but for this one instant, for one fleeting moment, he allowed himself the blessed relief of his mother's arms…

Before pulling back and taking a step away from her. He stared down at her, a lump in his throat. Swallowing hard he took a deep breath, reigning in his emotions and shoving the memories of his life… a life he hoped to erase… to the deepest recesses of his mind.

"There's a potion you can drink that will make you forget the last 24 hours," he said seriously, abruptly, an impersonal cloak falling over his features.

"I'll start making it."

And then he orbed out; leaving them all staring at him.

"Chris!" Piper yelled, "Wait," she called out, heading for the door, knowing he was going to the kitchen.

"Piper," Phoebe called, "… don't."

Piper stopped in her tracks and whirled to face them, shock on her face, "You can't be serious?"

Phoebe went to her, "Honey, let's… back off for a minute…"

"Phoebe he's my son-"

"And he just had to watch you die… for the second time in his life."

They stared at each other a moment, before Piper opened her mouth to respond. Leo's words cut her off though.

Low and agonized they sent chills through her and reminded her she wasn't the only one who'd seen a future they'd like to avoid.

"… because of me," he croaked out, his blue eyes filled with despair, "You die because of me…"

"Leo-" Paige began, but he wasn't listening.

He continued talking slowly, almost to himself.

"I didn't come."

"He called and called for me and I didn't come."

"Leo it hasn't-"

"What kind of father doesn't come when his child calls for him? When his child screams out for him like that…"

The sisters were silent.

There was only one answer to that question.

A really bad one.

"It hasn't happened yet," Paige reminded both him and Piper, looking between them anxiously.

"We can still stop it," Phoebe stated.

"Not if he makes us that potion," Piper said petulantly.

Paige tried to smiled, "Just cause he makes doesn't mean we hafta drink it."

The smile fell short though, at the moment she didn't think she'd ever smile again. She didn't think she'd ever get Chris' screams out of her head.

"We should go see how he's doing," Piper said softly, "… he shouldn't be alone."

"Maybe some alone time is what he needs," Phoebe responded.

Piper scowled, "Well he can't have it. He's still sick."

Light dawned on the faces of Phoebe and Paige.

"That's right," Paige stated, "… we need to figure out what that was."

"I'm sure he knows," Piper said firmly.

"Then I guess he's had as much alone as he's gonna get," Phoebe stated heading for the stairs.

Paige nodded, following her sister.

Piper and Leo were left in the attic alone. Silently they gazed at each other.

"How long have you known?" he asked softly.

"Since Wyatt's birthday."

Leo nodded, studying her…. Remembering

He swallowed hard, his eyes filling with tears, "I can't imagine my life without you and I… I le- let you die."

Piper said nothing.

She had no comfort to offer, because there simply wasn't any. Chris had called for his father and his father hadn't come. There was no excuse for that.

"I'm going downstairs," she said softly.

He nodded, but didn't respond, didn't make any move to orb out… he simply stood there staring straight ahead.

She knew he was replaying the images in his head, knew he was torturing himself with them…

… and she truly wished that there was something she could say to make it better…

… but there wasn't…

Without another word she left the attic.

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"I'm not asking you," Chris stated, deadpan, "… what you… what you just saw…" he shrugged as carelessly as he could manage, "…you can't know about it… it's not the way things work…"

"We don't want to forget."

"You can't remember, it could change-"

"But that's what you want! To change the future!!"

"To change Wyatt!! I want to change Wyatt!!"

"But not to save your mother!!"

The silence that filled the kitchen was deafening and the look Piper shot her sisters as she entered the kitchen was deadly.

Chris looked to her quickly as she entered, his eyes touched with a hint of vulnerability. It was gone in a flash, though, and his words were as cold as ice.

"I didn't come here on some whim to recapture the idyllic days of my youth," he spit at them, his green eyes blazing, "I am here on a mission sent by a group of people who have risked everything to get me here. People who haven't risked just their lives but the lives of their children and spouses, of their mother's and father's. People who've placed their faith in me, who are counting on me; that believe I can stop the despot who tortures them, the tyrant that destroys everything in his path."

The sisters stared wide eyed at him.

He took a shaking breath, trying to control his emotions. Running a hand through his hair, he attempted to explain to them, "I can't risk you knowing about that… if Fate is going to let me to change anything in this timeline… it has to be Wyatt. I can't let them down. I'm the last hope, the last chance we have."

They stared at him, before Piper cleared her throat and said gently, "I'm sorry tha- that responsibility falls to you Chris. It sounds like too heavy a burden for just one person."

Chris said nothing.

"Let us help you," Paige insisted.

Phoebe nodded, "It's what family is for; to help each other."

Chris looked down, refusing to let his family see how much he wished they could help him.

"I can't accept your help," he said seriously, "I'm sorry, but my plan does not include any of you as participants."

Piper scowled at him; discarding the gentle approach since it didn't seem to be working, "Well too bad!" she said heatedly, "Plans change!"

"Trust us, we should know," Paige said wryly.

But the wry humor and the angry words fell on deaf ears as Chris went back to making his potion.

His movements were definite and there wasn't an ounce of hesitation in them… he would not be deterred.

"Dammit Chris! We're not drinking that!"

He looked up at his Aunt Paige, his eyes dull, "I'll figure something out," he said softly, then continued.

"If you save Piper you'll save Wyatt," Phoebe offered seriously.

Chris answered still looking down, "There is no guarantee in that scenario. There was something already wrong with Wyatt. There's always been something wrong with him, that's why I came back so far. The only surefire way to save Wyatt is to save Wyatt."

He was so cold, so dispassionate that the sisters were taken off guard. This wasn't the little boy who'd begged for someone to heal his mom… this young man was hard.

"Have you kept your promise?" Phoebe asked suddenly, her voice quiet.

That made him pause, his hands stopped over the pot, his head shot up, "What?"

"Is that why you didn't call Leo? Because you swore you wouldn't? Have you kept that promise all these years?"

Chris met her gaze and held it, and she felt a shiver slide down her spine as she read the intensity in those green orbs, "I have," he said firmly, then bent his face over the pot.

"Where were we?" Paige asked, walking around to his other side; so that now he had Phoebe in front, Piper to his left and Paige to his right.

Chris sighed in frustration, "You know I can't-"

"Why not?" Paige cut him off, "You 're gonna make us forget anyway, so why not just tell us."

"Can you just please leave me alone," he growled at them.

"Wyatt looked like a pretty normal kid to me," Phoebe said, her dark eyes belying the light tone of her voice.

"Not at all like an evil despot," Paige picked it up.

They were trying to goad him; to provoke him into saying or doing something that would tell them what they wanted to know.

It wasn't going to work.

"Give him time," he said quietly, re-focusing on the potion… it was almost ready.

"All we saw was a big brother, a pretty good one."

Chris gritted his teeth.

"A big brother who was grieving, who suddenly had the responsibility of a younger sibling thrust upon him."

Paige paused, studying him with intense eyes, and then continued, "A big brother who suddenly had the burden of a legacy to live up to."

Phoebe saw the force he was exerting to control himself, he'd give in soon, "Okay so he was taking a look at some new rules… but given the circumstances… I think it's understandable. New rules aren't necessarily bad…"

The reaction she provoked with those words was slightly more than she'd anticipated. His head lifted and his green eyes blazed with an emotion Phoebe couldn't quite define, "Shut. Up." he said almost viciously.

And she did, so shocked was she at the heat emanating from those eyes. She couldn't look away and suddenly she had the same feeling she'd had earlier when he'd told Piper she really didn't want to see what was going to happen.

The feeling started at the pit of her stomach and worked its way out… making her feel chilled and… scared.

"You are the last person who should champion Wyatt's new rules," he hissed at her.

She stared at him, pushing the dread away, "Why?" she hissed back, doing her best to not be intimidated, even though inside she was trembling, "Why am I the last person who should?"

The question seemed to snap him out of his rage, shaking his head as he went back to the potion.

"Chris you can't just ignore us!" Paige nearly screamed at him.

He whirled on her, "We both had the burden of a legacy to live up to!!" he hissed at her, "You don't see me turning into a power-crazed, murdering, tyrannical son of a bit-"

"Chris!!" his mother interrupted, her tone aghast, and he had the good grace to look ashamed.

He took a deep breath and glared at Paige and Phoebe before turning back to the stove. He sprinkled something in it – it released a whiff of smoke – and then he turned the stove off; pulling the pot off the burner so it could cool.

"Okay I think we all just need to calm down," Piper said softly.

"Where were we Chris?" Paige asked again.

He said nothing.

"Paige just back off okay," Piper said, her eyes on her son. He looked so tense, so upset… and pale…

"I just want to know –"

"You were dead," the words were said softly, but they still took the sisters' breath away, "You weren't there because you'd died already. Mom was the last one. Paige died in a plane crash when I was seven and Phoebe was murdered when I was eleven."

His voice was soft and curiously detached; like he was discussing the weather and not the death of his family members.

"…god…" Paige whispered her face paler than usual.

Phoebe swallowed hard, "What do you mean murdered?"

Chris shrugged he was rummaging through the cupboards for vials, "I mean murdered, as in killed, as in her life ended by another person, as in-"

"… by a… a demon?" Phoebe asked, her voice thick.

"No, by a heroine-deprived-sleeze-bag, punk with a gun," he said almost causally as he began pouring the liquid into the vials.

There was silence in the kitchen as he did this, when he set the pot down Piper spoke, "I was the only one killed by magic?"

He set all the vials in a row and looked up at her, "Yes. It was fate's idea of a joke. The sisters most involved with magic were killed in mortal ways, while the sister most desirous of a normal life was vanquished by a demon."

He paused then continued, "Anything else you'd like to know before I zap you with these things?" the voice was drenched in sarcasm and touched with bitterness.

Phoebe looked down before reaching out to touch him gently on the arm, "We don't mean to upset you Chris… we just-"

Her words were cut off by the swirling vortex that appeared a few feet away. It was large menacing and this time they all had time to feel fear before it pulled them all in.

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