Disclaimer: See First Chapter.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thank you all so much for the reviews! I was so excited. It seems though, that a lot of people thought that was the end... it (obviously) wasn't, sorry 'bout the mix-up.
I was going to wait until I this chapter was a little longer, but decided to post the first part just so that you'd all know I wasn't finished yet. D
I hope you all like this... from here the story has two chapters left and neither is very angsty... I think I've done enough angst in this story. Of course I do love it... so you'll see a tiny bit of it, but nothing big...
I hope you enjoy, thank you for reading!
"So did Lucifer say anything important before he left?" Chris asked several hours later.
They were in the living room, eating ice cream sundaes that Phoebe and Paige had prepared while Piper fussed over Chris. He took her fussing well, answering most of her questions about his favorite this and his favorite that with minimal eye roll. His fever had completely disappeared and at the moment he appeared no worse for wear.
Leo had said much throughout the conversation, simply watched. Occasionally though, his gaze would meet that of Piper's and the two would smile at each other warmly.
"His name was Evan," Phoebe piped in, than blushed furiously, as all eyes turned to her questioningly.
Chris chuckled, "Leave it to you, to fall for the future assassin…"
"Hey! I didn't fall for him… he's just not what he seems and I…" her chin stuck out defiantly, "I like that."
"He's like six, right now Phoebe…" Chris told her smugly, "You can baby-sit him if you like…"
"Not funny," she told him.
Paige laughed, "…kinda funny…"
"Yes, yes, funny… did he say anything?" Chris said his tone getting a little impatient.
Piper sighed roughly, "Must we talk about that…"
"It's just a question… I've been answering them for hours now… it's only fair that I get to ask a few…"
"No, Chris, he didn't say anything," Paige told him, her voice speaking of longsuffering patience.
"Did you ask him anything?" The boy insisted.
"What were we supposed to ask?" Paige responded in the same tone.
He scowled at her, "Oh, I don't know… how 'bout where his portal was located?" he told her snappishly.
"No, actually, we didn't," Paige answered, shrugging as though it couldn't be helped.
"Well you should have," he stated pettishly.
Piper scowled at him, "Sorry, but we had other things on our mind at the time."
"Yeah, you know— like not letting you die…" Phoebe told him, using the same tone he had.
He stared at them, then released a long sigh as the angry expression melted off his face, "And that's greatly appreciated, but you should've remembered… we need to find where he came through, so we can keep an eye on it."
"I didn't say I was finished pampering yet," Piper complained, "So I don't see why all of sudden we're discussing assassins and magic again."
Chris rolled his eyes, "I'm fine. I swear. If I have to eat or drink one more thing I'll puke…"
"Are you nauseous?" she cried, half getting up.
"You think the antidote wears off?" Phoebe asked, concerned.
Chris shot off the sofa, "Oh my goodness! RELAX!"
"Chris if you're feeling sick-" Paige began but never finished.
Leo's laughter interrupted her.
All eyes went to him, where they found him watching Chris with amused green eyes. Chris, in turn, was glaring at his father.
"It's not funny," he grit out.
Leo chuckled before looking at the sister, "I'm just going out a limb here, but I think what Chris is trying to say is that there's such a thing as too much pampering… I think you're overloading him with it…"
All three girls looked from Leo to Chris then back to Leo and finally to Chris again, their expressions slightly baffled yet amused.
"So you're not sick?" Piper asked, her voice light.
Chris took a deep breath, "No, I'm not sick. I'm not hungry. I'm not tired. I'm not cold or hot or sad or upset. I'M FINE." He finished tersely.
Paige giggled, "He sounds a little frustrated though, doesn't he?" She asked in a mock whisper to her sisters, who both promptly burst into laughter.
When the laughter died down, Piper spoke, "It's okay Chris, you can sit down… I promise to stop asking if you're okay…"
"Yeah, me too…" Phoebe added.
"I guess we did kinda get carried away with the whole taking care of you thing…" Paige admitted.
"I just want to make sure you're alright," Piper said softly, "… that's all, but if you insist you're fine… then we'll just take your word for it."
He looked them over warily, not quite believing them. After a moment though, he gave a quick nod, "It's not that I don't appreciate the concern..." he told them haltingly, "… it just makes me… uncomfortable… I'm not used to it—anymore that is. I'm used to dealing with things on my own…"
"Well you'll have to get over that," Piper stated calmly, as if there was nothing more to discuss.
Chris frowned, "I know that you all find the idea of the memory potion-"
"Chris." Piper cut him off, her eyes flashing angrily, "We are not going to forget everything we've learned. Remembering is our only guarantee that we can change it."
"And we have to change it." Phoebe stated just as firmly.
"Fine," he grumbled, "But I can't let you keep treating me like a kid. I know it's hard for you to understand—especially considering my… uh…
"… recent brush with death…" Paige provided helpfully, her eyes amused.
He shot her a glare before continuing, "I am good at what I do… all things considered, I've been doing it a helluva lot longer that you three…"
"Oh please," Phoebe grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"It's true! I grew up around all this… plus I had a whitelighter father… plus I went to magic school…" He stood up again, his eyes glowing with triumph, "I'm more than qualified to be your whitelighter."
"That may be… but you happen to be my son as well… and that's not something anyone here is just gonna forget about…"
"Especially when Piper starts, you know… expanding…" Phoebe stated knowingly.
"I'm your whitelighter and I'm being an objective being when I tell you that it would be beneficial for you to drink the potion."
"Like hell," Piper hissed, suddenly angry. She stood up and glared at him, "Don't make me have to yell at you Christopher… no one here gives a shit that you're our whitelighter… you're my son before anything else… and we aren't going to let you deal with everything on you own."
"You have a better chance of changing things if you let us remember… five of us working on figuring this out are better than just you…"
"… no matter how qualified you are…"
Paige and Phoebe said one after the other. Chris looked from one sister to another and finally let his gaze rest on Piper.
"If I give in on this potion thing… you have to promise to take me seriously when I try to guide you." He insisted.
Piper rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond; Leo beat her to it.
"They promise," he said to his son.
"Hey!" Paige cried.
Phoebe shot her ex-brother-in-law a glare, "Whoa there, dude, we didn't agree to anything!"
"You can't put words in our mouths Leo," Piper reproached.
Leo stood, "Maybe not… but the thing is… that Chris is right. He's well qualified to be your whitelighter." He glanced at the young man quickly before continuing, "I plan to be around more… much more… but I still have other charges. You three are Chris's only charges, he's able to focus completely on guiding you…and it sounds like he's very well trained…"
"I still don't like it," Phoebe stated.
"He's still our son Leo, and he shouldn't have to be responsible for us… we're responsible for him…" Piper insisted.
"I have a job to do!" Chris yelled at her suddenly, his eyes flashing, "I have to save Wyatt… I'm the one who's done the research! I'm the one who's compiled a list of demons that need to be eliminated, I'm the one who's listed them according clan, species, and rank… I'm the one who's cross-referenced the ones who need the Power of Three with your schedules so you can fit it in! I've worked hard on this mission and I'm not going to let your sudden maternal instincts jeopardize everything I've done! I have a fuckin world to save!"
The outburst left the three sisters open-mouthed; they didn't get a chance to react to it though, before Chris orbed out of the room.
The seconds ticked by after he left but still no one said anything, no one even moved. It was Leo's long sigh that brought the sisters out of their trance.
"Wow…" Phoebe muttered.
"That was… he was…" but Paige didn't even know where she wanted to go with her sentence, her eyes still glued to where Chris had been standing.
There had been such sudden fury in his gaze and words that it had robbed her of breath.
"I was afraid that was going to happen…" Leo stated as he sat back down.
"Why?" Piper whispered her eyes wide.
Leo shrugged, "You all just… came on too strong… we can't expect him to slide right into a normal family unit… I mean for christsake his older brother is a toddler…"
"Yeah," Piper whispered, falling back onto the sofa, "But he seemed fine…"
"Of course, at first… but he's right. He's not just our son Piper, he's also your Whitelighter," a glimmer of pride lit Leo's eyes, "…and he's here as savior to a world…he's much more than just our son…" he finished.
Piper sighed sadly, "I hate the thought of him being in danger… I don't want him to get hurt again Leo… I just…"
He stood suddenly, and knelt before her, taking her hands into his own, "I know, honey, I know… but we have to believe that he'll come to us if things get out of his control… and you and the girls can help out more, vanquish more demons… we have to believe that you taught him well…"
He smiled at her suddenly, a gentle, loving smile and brought her hands up to his lips, "And let's not forget what stubborn, strong stock he comes from…"
Piper smiled a little, releasing a small sigh, "You may be right… I just… I want to make up for everything I've ever said to him…"
"And you can… we can… I just don't think Chris can take it all at once…"
"He was doing pretty good with the pampering…"
"Yeah, for a little while…"
"It even looked like he liked it…"
"He probably does… in small doses…"
Piper chuckled and suddenly remembered that her sisters were in the room, her head shot up and found that they were staring at her and Leo intently with goofy, smiling expressions on their faces.
Leo too remembered suddenly that they were in the room and jumped up from his crouched position.
"You guys are so cute!" Paige squealed.
"Yeah, I don't care what you say… I'm gonna squeeze Chris's cheeks every time I see'm… he's sooooo adorable!" Phoebe cried and jumped up off the sofa. "I just thought of something absolutely wonderful to pull our wonderful whitelighter slash nephew slash son out of his sudden doldrums."
And then she rushed out of the room, "I'll be right back… don't move!" she cried.
Paige shrugged, when Leo and Piper looked to her in question, "Don't ask me… I was watching you two make calf eyes at each other…"
"Are you sure this will work?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, and think about it… it'll be perfect, how can he be mad after this…" Phoebe stated happily.
"I can think of a few ways…" Leo muttered shooting sparks at the sisters. "This is not a good idea."
"Well you agreed to vote and you were outvoted," Paige responded.
Leo shot Piper a wilting look, "We agreed if we tied we'd drop it… I thought we'd tie…" he said pointedly.
Piper shrugged sheepishly, "I'm just curious Leo…"
"He'll have a fit…"
Piper sighed, "Maybe at first… but Phoebe's right, how can he be mad afterwards?"
A moment later Paige opened her mouth and screamed, "CHRIS!" at the top of her lungs.
Nothing happened.
"CHRIS WE WANT TO TALK!"
Still nothing.
"CHRIS!"
All they heard was the ticking of the clock.
"CHRIS… WE WON'T STOP CALLING UNTIL YOU COME!"
She tried again.
A moment later blue orbs filled the room to reveal a tall young man with a petulant expression on his face.
"What?" he ground out.
"I'm sorry, son…" Leo said sympathetically, a phrase that earned him a confused scowl from Chris.
Piper took a deep breath and said "Chris…?" before the boy could question his father.
His gaze transferred to his mother, he gave her a pointed look, waiting for her to continue.
"Don't you have any good memories at all?" she asked softly.
Chris's scowl returned and he opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly Paige's hand clamped firmly over his mouth.
He was so surprised he didn't catch on until Phoebe's fingers were pressed to his arm…
The spell.
… but by then it was too late…
A swirling portal had opened before them and they were all being pulled into it.
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