Disclaimer: See First Chapter

Author's Note: Hi Everyone. I worked on getting this chapter together as quickly as I could-- for my Chris-deprived friends out there.

My last chapter didn't include him and I know that most of you felt that was an oversight of immense proportions! Sorry! ;)

Anyway, I hope you like!

Last Time...

The sisters were left alone, and for a moment they didn't move; it was Piper who broke the stillness, "You heard the lady, lets get the hell out of here."

"Couldn't have said it better myself; Phoebe the spell…?"

Phoebe nodded, and pulled out the sheet of paper. Quickly, the sisters read their spell:

Power of the witches rise

Matriarchs of the Halliwell line

Our mission here is quite complete

Take us home, to where, this curse, we will defeat

As they faded away they each hoped that this nightmare day would soon be at an end.

And silently the Stone of Alytar watched them fade—her loyal protectors watching behind her in bafflement as to why those mortal women had gained such favor. She did not feel the need to explain herself, only hoped that the women would indeed succeed in their battle.

Leo glanced at the clock for the thirteenth time in the last two minutes—what was taking so long? He thought again, his worried eyes falling to his son.

Chris had barely stirred since the sisters had left and his stillness was scaring Leo. Gently he reached out and laid a damp cloth on the boy's forehead.

Chris moaned, writhing against the cool cloth that probably felt like ice against his hot skin, "Shhhhh, buddy, it's okay…" he cooed to his son.

But the truth was it wasn't okay, not remotely.

Chris's fever was rising, his body was no longer responding to healing and he hadn't regained consciousness in hours.

He was slipping away.

The thought quickened his breathing and made him clench his jaw. Once again he glanced at the clock.

Chris moaned again and Leo gently lifted the cloth.

"It's okay Chris… you're going to be okay… I promise…"

"…Mom…" he murmured faintly; calling for her as he tried to open his eyes.

"No, Chris, it's-" he paused, and swallowed hard past the emotions that had suddenly risen to his throat, "…it's Dad, Chris…" he told him softly, "…your Mom will be back later…"

"No… no, Mom…"

"She'll be right back, Chris, I'm- I'm going to take care of you…"

The boys long lashes flickered as he struggled to wake up, but the eyes that focused on Leo were glazed and unfocused, "Dad…?"

Again the lump in his throat, but Leo swallowed past it and answered, "Yeah, buddy, it's me…"

"… you came…" the boys whispered wonderingly and Leo's heart clenched. He knew that Chris wasn't seeing him, he was seeing his future self, but it still hurt so much to see that look of surprise on his son's face.

Surprise that he had come.

"Of course I came," he told him gently, brushing back a stray lock of his son's hair, "How could I not?" he added.

Chris's breathing was getting erratic, a sure sign that he was tiring himself, "…busy…" the boy murmured faintly, his eyes beginning to slide shut, "… always busy…" he finished as he slipped into unconsciousness again.

"No, Chris, not busy… never for you… I swear it."

The boy did not hear his father's promise, but it didn't matter… it made it no less real. Things were going to be different this time around.

With careful movements he re-soaked the cloth, wrung it out, and softly patted Chris's face with it. This time the boy made no protest, Leo didn't know whether that was a good or a bad sign. He sat their studying the face of his son…

Promising over and over again that it would be different this time…

The sudden tinkling of orbs broke him out of his reverie; he jumped up, "Thank god, what took you so long!"

"You don't wanna know," Phoebe grumbled.

"Let's just say that there are something's that didn't make the history books," Paige added.

Piper didn't say a word, she walked right past the Leo and headed towards the potion table, "Is this it?" she asked staring down at the bowl.

"Yeah, everything's ready, I checked it twice. Just needs the water …" he told her.

Piper nodded and very carefully poured the water into the bowl. She felt her sisters gather around her to watch. The potion bubbled for a moment, then settled and turned into a very fine liquid.

"I hope it was supposed to do that…" Paige mumbled.

Phoebe elbowed her, motioning for her to be quiet.

Piper poured the liquid into a nearby vial and stared at it. It was a shimmery blue that seemed to catch the colors of the rainbow.

"It looks like the stone on her wrist," Paige said, staring at the liquid too.

"Who's wrist?" Leo asked, he too staring at the liquid.

"Long story," Phoebe said quickly, "… go on Piper, go give it to him…" she added gently after a moment, then gave her sister a small push.

"It's going to work," Paige told her confidently, "He's going to be fine."

Piper took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah…"

Piper sat on the edge of sofa, Leo he kneeled on the ground to watch. He felt Phoebe and Paige move in behind him.

Piper leaned in and slipped her arm behind Chris's head, "Come on baby, I need you to wake up…" she murmured pressing a quick kiss to his temple.

"Mmmm… no…" he moaned, shaking his head.

"Yes, Chris… please… for me… I have something to make you better… but you have to drink it, baby…"

"… Mom…?" he whispered, his lashes fluttering.

"Yes, baby… it's Mom… here drinks this…"

"… Dad's here…" he told her weakly, even as she pressed the vial to his mouth.

"I know honey, he's right here… we need you to drink this, Chris…" she told gently.

They all watched Piper gently eased the liquid down the boy's throat.

"No... more... no... stop..." Chris gasped a few seconds later, writhing away from her. But Piper held him still.

"All of it Chris," she said firmly, refusing to budge the vial from his lips despite his writhing, "You have to drink it all..."

"... don't wanna..."

"Please, baby... please, I need you to..." She whispered pleadingly, scooting closer to him. He had to drink it. "There's not much left... just a little more..."

Chris stopped struggling, allowing Piper finish giving him the potion. A moment later she began to gently she lay him back down, "Okay, baby... all done... that's it... you did good, sweetie..."

Chris didn't respond, he was asleep the moment she eased his head onto a cushion. She stared at him a moment, before shifting her gaze to Leo.

"We wait now," he told her simply.

"It's going to work," Paige repeated.

Piper nodded, but didn't move. Leo stood and pulled up a chair where he made himself comfortable— to wait. Phoebe and Paige quietly went about cleaning up the attic. They collected the empty vials and garbage from the snacks; put away the potion materials and poured cool, fresh water into the bowl Piper was using to keep Chris cool.

An hour slowly ticked by and with each second the tension in the attic rose. One hour and seven minutes later, Piper released a breath.

Everyone sat up a little straighter.

"He's cooler to the touch," she said softly, her voice almost breathless with relief. A collective sigh went up in the attic.

"Thank god," Paige murmured.

"Here Piper… take his temperature again," Phoebe said quickly, handing her the thermometer.

102

"It worked," she breathed as she stared at the tiny screen, "Oh my god... it worked..."

Leo leaned over and glanced at it, he sighed as a huge grin covered his face. He carefully removed the thermometer from Piper's hand and set it on the ground.

She was still grinning with relief when he looked back at her, and his breath caught at how lovely she looked. She was pregnant again... with their son --their very strong, very courageous son... and she was so beautiful, so strong and courageous herself...

Without warning her or letting himself think about it, he reached over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him and kissing her.

As a husbnd kisses his wife.

And for a moment nothing else existed. Piper accepted the embrace eagerly, allowing him to pull her halfway onto his lap. Her arms wrapped around the back of his neck and she could feel the smile lurking around his lips as they kissed.

It was the loud clearing of a throat that brought them to the awareness that they weren't alone.

Piper pulled back to glance at Phoebe who had positioned herself on the arm of the sofa. She was grinning and pointing downward with her hand.

Piper's gaze dropped and she found Chris with an arm draped over his eyes in a very melodramatic way.

"He just woke up, looked over, saw the two of you-"

"-scarred for life..." the boy muttered, without removing the arm.

"... said 'eewww'..." Phoebe continued without pausing, "... and did that..."

"Kinda cute if you ask me," Paige said happily.

"You're awake!" Piper exclaimed, "How do feel? Do you wanna sit up? You're fever's going down... can you look at me please!" she stated.

Slowly Chris lowered his arm and peeked over at her, "Are you finished..." he asked slowly, the green of his eyes glimmering again.

Piper grinned at him, "Yes... I'm going to kiss you now..." she told him affectionately, then leaned over and placed a warm kiss on his forehead.

He wiggled, frowning a little; when she sat up, his frown intensified.

With a little effort he managed to sit himself up. The frown turned into a glare when he noted the warm, overly tender looks he was getting from everyone in the room. They all looked on the verge of tears.

It became all too obvious to him that this situation had gotten far out of control. It was his fault of course… getting poisoned and needing to be saved wasn't conductive to remain aloof, but now he was going to have re-set the boundaries.

He felt stronger, more in control… the memories of his fever induced hours already receding into a dreamlike haze…

… something about cotton candy and cookies…

… about choosing innocents and trust…

But he didn't have time to explore the elusive thoughts… he had to deal with this mess… they were looking at him as though…

… as though he was their son and nephew— and he wasn't— not yet. But at the moment he couldn't think of any way to convince them of that.

He sighed raggedly, "I guess I missed a lot, huh?"

"You scared the shit out of us," Paige exclaimed, and he saw the way she blinked back tears.

A glance at Phoebe told him that she wasn't faring any better. He knew from past experience that in about ten seconds his aunts were going to smother him with hugs.

In what he knew to be a useless attempt to put distance between himself and them, he shrugged, "Sorry, but it all worked out… no big deal-"

He didn't finish his sentence because Phoebe clobbered him on the top of the head with a cushion, "It was a big deal, mister." She proclaimed before sliding down next to him and wrapping her arms around him tightly, "… a very big deal…"

He held himself stiffly, in a last ditch effort at distance... it went to hell though when Piper leaned in and wrapped her arms around him too.

From a few feet away Paige squealed, "Ooooooh me too... I want to hug Chris too!"

And there he sat engulfed in a tangle of the arms of the three most influential women in his life.

Slowly he let himself relax into their embrace—they were smoothing his hair and rubbing his back and in a burst of inspiration he knew exactly what it would take to get them off him.

"So, about those memory potions…" he began confidently.

Just as expected they shot off him and regarded him with heated glares. But Piper's melted off almost immediately.

After a second she reached out and ruffled his hair, "Let me pamper you for a little while before we re-draw the battle lines, deal?"

She was grinning at him warmly, her dark eyes twinkling with love, her hand resting on his cheek… she looked almost like the mother--and despite his best intentions, despite the nagging voice at the back of his head that reminded him he had a mission to complete—he couldn't stop the small smile that touched his lips.

The little boy buried inside him soared to life, and the word slipped out of it'sown accord, "Deal."

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