Chapter 10: Nightmares.

Paige sat on the sofa clutching at her mug of coffee as if her life depended upon it. She kept taking sips of the boiling liquid, the burning sensation that she felt as each drop touched her tongue served to remind her that she was in fact still awake and hadn't dreamt the events of the past hour. She had regained consciousness after her fainting fit to find herself on the sofa with Piper and Phoebe watching over her, looks of concern on their faces. Suddenly remembering the reason for her dizzy spell, Paige had bolted to the toilet and spent 5 minutes hugging the toilet bowl. On her return to the living room Piper propelled her toward the sofa, passed her a coffee, and without giving her the chance to speak, Phoebe had launched into the story of what had happened to Jo.

"…And so" Phoebe concluded 20 minutes later, "she's your daughter."

The older two siblings looked at the youngest, waiting for her response.

"I don't believe it…my baby's alive" was all that Paige could manage.

" I know sweetie, it's hard to take it all in, but you have a beautiful daughter out of all of this.." Piper began, only to be interrupted by Wyatt's cries. " Back in a tic"

"Where do the elders get off in doing something like this?" Paige asked, her voice wavering. "They made me think my own child was dead" The end of her sentence was drowned out by a large sob and tears began to roll down her cheeks. " I thought she was dead"

Phoebe pulled her little sister into a bear hug, stroking her back softly as the sound of Paige's sobs echoed round the silent room. That's how Piper found them 10 minutes later when having finally calmed Wyatt down, she entered the living room.

The oldest charmed one sat gently on the sofa next to her younger sisters. " I checked on Jo" She said softly "she's sleeping"

Paige sat up slightly, catching her reflection in the mirror, her eyes were red raw and the skin on her face was blotchy from all the crying. "Perhaps the nightmares have finally stopped" She said, her voice still slightly shaky.

"Nightmares?" Phoebe asked.

Paige smiled, a little relieved of the opportunity to detour slightly and not to think directly about the enormity of what was happening. "When people suffer great loss, like Jo, or even me when my parents died, they often repress their feelings during the day. They try to block out all the pain by pushing it to the back of their minds. However, at night when they are asleep, their minds become free, they can't control their thoughts, so all those feelings come rushing to the forefront. This causes them to have nightmares where they relive the situation over and over. This past week for example Jo has been calling out for her father, her mother, her grandmother.."

"But I thought it was just her father who died in the crash?" Piper questioned.

"He did" Paige explained, "but one trauma can lead you to relive the deaths of other people that were close to you. For example when my parents died, it evoked memories of my grandparents deaths"

"Well what do you do to stop the nightmares?"

"The most important thing is that the person doesn't actually.."

Paige was interrupted by a scream from above. The 3 sisters leapt to their feet simultaneously and made for the stairs. "Looks like we spoke to soon" Piper said as they gained the second floor landing.

They came skidding to a halt in the doorway of Paige's room. Jo was sat upright, her eyes shut tight and her arms and legs thrashing wildly, " DADDY" she was screaming blindly, "MUMMY, MUMMY PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME MUMMY"

"Do something," Phoebe hissed at Paige who was frozen in the doorway.

" I I I can't" Paige stuttered.

"What were you saying downstairs…its important not to…?"

"Wake them" Paige whispered. "The key is not to wake them, because if you do, they will remember what they were dreaming about, its best just to reassure them, then, they subconsciously calm down and go back to sleep normally"

"So what are you waiting for?" Piper gave Paige a little push.

" I I I Can't" Paige repeated.

"Well, what have you done on previous nights?"

"I've just hugged her, pretended I was her dad or whoever, and then waited until she quietened down.."

"What's the problem now?"

"Are you two deaf? Did you not hear who she is calling for? Its different now, it's."

"It's a little girl who is having a nightmare" Phoebe cut in. " Forget about who Jo is for a second, forget about what has happened or what is going to happen….just go in there and do what your instincts tell you to do when you see an upset child"

Paige took a deep breath and walked slowly across the room, trembling with every step she took.

"MUMMY NOOOOOO" the child screamed.

After what felt like an eternity Paige reached the bed. She sank down beside Jo, and wrapped her arms around the shaking child "Its Ok Jo" She soothed. " Mummy's here, Mummy's here"

"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN MY LIFE FELL APART?" Chris was looking at him with such hatred that for a split second Leo thought that he was going to punch him. He closed his eyes and waited for the blow to arrive, when it didn't Leo looked up to see that Chris had moved away from him and was standing on the other side of the bridge. Gingerly Leo took a step forward.

"When your life fell apart?" Leo questioned. The raw emotion that had been visible in Chris' face a minute earlier disappeared, and was now replaced by his habitual hooded look, silence prevailed.

The two stood a while, gazing outward across the bay, watching as the fog moved in across the city.

"Chris" Leo repeated. "what did you mean by that?"

"Nothing" he replied, his voice taught and emotionless. " Forget it. I didn't mean anything"

"No" Leo persisted, edging further toward him. "Whatever happened effected you deeply, and as your father I want to know"

"Well that's funny 'cos it sure seemed like you didn't want to know at the time"

" In case you've forgotten it has yet to happen, and I want to know, perhaps I can help you,….. "

"Oh yes, Super Dad to the rescue, Leo Wyatt saves the day….except you didn't, you screwed up big time"

"Chris, this is stupid we're getting nowhere, please tell me, what happened"

There was a pause. Chris seemed to be contemplating whether to continue with this endless game of cat and mouse, or instead have the truth come out and show Leo how badly his futureself had let his family down, something which would kill present Leo if he were to find out. Finally reaching a decsison he turned round to face his father.

"Do you really want to know?" he said slowly

"Yes, I really want to know, I wouldn't have said so otherwise…."

"Mum died" Leo was cut off as the words came rushing out of Chris' mouth. He always said it quickly, so that he wouldn't have to hear the words, and be reminded that this wasn't one of the millions of lies that he had fabricated, but the stone cold truth.

Mum died. Mum as in Piper. Piper died. Those two little words pierced Leos heart like a bullet from a gun. He grabbed out behind him for something to hang onto as his legs gave way beneath him and he crumpled to a heap on the floor. Chris stood there watching him, his face blank, not displaying the perverse happiness he felt at seeing his father take the news of his wife's death, seeing him suffer, like Chris himself had all those years ago.

"She….how…why…what…?" Leo babbled, searching Chris'face for some answers.

"It doesn't matter how, or when or even why" Chris spat, preparing himself to deliver the final blow. "What matters is that when she died, the very time that Wy and I needed you the most, you left us."

"I L..I Left you?" Leo stuttered.

"I need to get away for a bit boys, I can't cope you see boys, I'll be back real soon boys" Chris mimicked his fathers voice. "Do you know how long you were gone for?"

"How long?" Leo croaked, not wanting to hear the answer.

"2 years…dad" Chris watched as his father took on board the information. He saw the Elder's face become contorted as he was over come with feelings of guilt for a crime that he was yet to commit . " You left me at my darkest hour" Chris continued. "Now I'm leaving you at yours" . Without a backwards glance, Chris orbed out into the night, leaving Leo alone to be tormented by his thoughts.

Coming soon Chapter 11: Dealing with it.

Jo and Chris talk, Paige seeks advice from an unlikely source and Leo..you'll just have to wait and see….