A/N: I am SO sorry! I know, it's been ages since I've updated. My Internet was disconnected for a couple of months, but luckily that's all been sorted out. I've also got a couple of other stories I'm hoping to post once this one is finished, which include a couple of Supernatural stories, a Smallville story and a Supernatural/Charmed crossover.

This chapter is pretty short, but from now on, I'll be updating fairly regularly. Once again, thanks to the people who reviewed! I wasn't sure how the spell to send someone forward in time went, so I just changed the spell used to go back in time, slightly. Things in italics are thoughts.

Chapter 10-

"Well, that was... unexpected," Paige said, turning away from the spot where Tempus had been.

"Well, there's no way I'm going," said Zach.

"You have to!" Chris told him. "I don't want you dead!"

"We have no proof that what she said was true," Zach reasoned. "And I can't leave you here alone."

"He's not alone; he has me!" Piper put in.

Zach's eyes flickered towards her for the briefest second, before settling on Chris again.

"Look, you're in more danger here anyway. At least in our time, there won't be Wyatt anymore," Chris said.

"Wyatt won't kill me," said Zach.

Chris stayed silent. He knew that Wyatt loved them more than anyone else, but he loved power more, and if it came down to it, then power was what he'd choose.

"Chris, in our time, you didn't return. Remember I told you that I waited months?" Zach asked, and continued when Chris nodded. "Well, if you had succeeded then you probably would have returned to the exact same time that you left. You should have returned at the exact same time, but you didn't. I think you died, then. How can I leave you knowing you might die?"

"This is giving me a headache," Paige groaned.

"You might have changed that, by coming back," Chris said. "But I will not let you die."

"Zach, I think Chris is right," Piper said hesitantly. "That was a Goddess we just saw. Remember what she said? I think if Chris was going to die, then she would have told us."

Zach looked around at them all, Chris and Paige who were nodding at Piper's words. He sighed.

"I guess I don't have much choice then, do I?" he muttered.

"I'll go and tell Phoebe and Leo, then we can send you back," Paige said, knowing Chris and Piper would want some time with Zach before he left.

Piper, Chris and Zach all stood there for a moment, staring at each other.

"I don't want you to go," Piper said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Can't you stay for dinner, at least?"

Zach looked at Chris.

"Well, Tempus said we had less than a day," Chris sighed. "But I suppose a couple of hours should be okay."

Piper's face lit up. "I'll go and start cooking," she said, much more cheerfully, and went downstairs.

Chris and Zach looked at each other.

"You want to go to the bridge?" Zach asked awkwardly.

Chris nodded and they orbed out.

"Are you okay, Piper?" Paige asked carefully.

Piper nodded. "Could you pass the salt?"

Paige handed her the bottle, and leaned against the bench.

"I'm here if you need to talk, you know," Paige told her.

Piper turned towards Paige, and her sister was surprised to see her eyes were full of tears.

"I just don't want to let him go!" Piper cried. "And I don't even know if he'll be born! Leo and I split up." Her eyes widened. "Chris split us up."

Paige frowned. "That's odd. I don't exactly picture him as a reckless kind of guy."

Leo orbed in. "Were you calling me?" he asked.

"Um, no," Piper said. "I was just making dinner, and-" She looked around the kitchen. "Do you want to stay, Leo? Zach's going home tonight, and I'm sure he'd appreciate you being here."

"Zach's going? Why?" Leo questioned.

"Long story," Piper replied shortly. "Will you stay?"

Leo squirmed. On the one hand, he wanted Zach to know he cared about him; on the other hand, he was ashamed of himself and didn't want to be around his sons. Any of them.

"Okay, then," Leo agreed, slightly reluctantly.

Piper gave a small smile and went back to her cooking, just as Phoebe entered the kitchen.

"Hey, Phoebes!" Paige said brightly.

"Sorry about Zach, Piper," Phoebe said, looking at her older sister with sympathy. "He'll be fine though, I'm sure."

"Are you sure I can't stay in this time?" Zach asked Chris for what must have been the tenth time.

"Yes. I am not taking any chances with your life," Chris said firmly.

Zach rolled his eyes. "Okay then."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"What?" Zach asked, realizing Chris was staring at him.

"It's just..." Chris started. "Well, when I go back to the future, it will have changed. You- might not be you anymore."

Zach smiled slightly. "I thought of that, you know." He drew a tiny potion vial out of his pocket. "When I first came to the past, I thought you might make me return, so I brought this. It contains most of my memories, including all the ones with you in." He looked at Chris seriously. "I want you to give it to the other me when you go back to our time."

"But... I don't want the other you to have memories of our time. It was bad," Chris protested.

"But otherwise you'll be the only person who has actually experienced it," Zach urged. "You can't have that burden on yourself, Chris. And I know the other me will want to drink it because I know I'd do anything for you."

"Thanks, Zach," Chris said quietly, putting the vial in his pocket.

Zach smiled at him, knowing that at least he'd done something to ease his brother's anguish.

"Bad idea, Piper," Paige muttered to her sister.

"Shut up!" Piper hissed back.

Piper, Phoebe, Paige, Leo, Chris and Zach were seated around the table, eating a seafood dinner Piper had cooked. After promising he would return, Cole had gone for a walk around the city, not wanting to intrude on their family dinner.

The atmosphere was like ice. Chris and Zach were still angry with Leo, and Piper couldn't help feeling mad that he'd put her children under so much grief. Phoebe was like an emotional roller coaster, reeling from all the emotions she could feel.

Chris didn't even think they should be eating when Wyatt was missing, but he knew how much this meant to his mother, and he was desperate to keep Zach around for as long as he thought was safe. So he put up with it.

"Hey, what's this?" Zach asked curiously, picking up a prawn from his plate.

The sisters giggled at him, while Chris shrugged. Even Leo had to grin.

"It's a prawn," Piper told him. "Haven't you ever seen one before?"

"Oh." Comprehension dawned on Zach's face. "Well, I have seen one before, but not for about five years."

"Wyatt made it illegal to eat or be in possession of them," Chris told them.

"Why?" Phoebe asked.

"He didn't like them," Chris said simply. "He almost banned peanut butter too, as it was his most hated food. How can someone not like peanut butter?"

"Why didn't he ban it, then?" Piper asked.

For the first time, Chris looked confused. "Well... I really liked it you see. He said that was why he didn't make it illegal."

They fell into silence again. Piper got up then, saying she was going to make some coffee. She came back a few minutes later with drinks and cheesecake.

"You really should go now," Chris told Zach, when they had finished eating. "We can't take any more chances."

Zach nodded reluctantly.

"Can't you stay just a little longer?" Piper pleaded.

Chris and Zach both shook their heads. "Do you want him to die?" Chris asked.

"No," Piper whispered, holding back tears.

Soon they were all standing in the attic. Paige and Phoebe each hugged Zach. He walked over to Piper, next.

"It was good to see you, Mom," he told her. "I didn't know you for that long, but you really were a good mother. I love you."

Piper kissed him on the forehead as he hugged her. He turned to Leo.

"Leo," Zach sighed. "Just- don't screw up this time, okay?"

"Can- can I ask you something?" Leo asked. Seeing Zach's nod, he continued. "Why do you hate me?"

Zach eyed him for a moment, before finally saying, "I've never hated you. You were a great father to me. But- not to everyone."

Leo nodded; looking slightly happier, and slightly sadder, if that was possible. Zach hesitated for a moment, and then hugged him.

"Be careful, Zach," Chris whispered, hugging his little brother.

"You too," Zach replied.

Zach stepped towards the attic wall. "Oh, before I forget," said Zach, looking around at the others. "If any of you start treating Chris badly again, I swear to God I will come straight back from the future and murder you all."

Ignoring Chris, who was rolling his eyes, Zach began to read the spell:

"'Hear these words, hear the rhyme, heed the hope within my mind, send me forward to where I'll find, what I wish in place and time.'"

A portal opened in the wall, and after a slight smile towards his family, Zach stepped through it. It closed up behind him.

Chris stared at the spot where his brother had been just a moment ago. He was now truly alone again. Sure, he had Piper, Phoebe and Paige, hell, even Leo, but it wasn't the same. They weren't from his time.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked, touching his shoulder lightly.

"Yes," Chris said unemotionally. "I'll see him again." Even if it's not the same 'him', he thought.

"I'm sorry, Chris," Leo said. "For everything I've done. I'm not going to be the Leo you know. I promise."

"Maybe one day you'll make a promise you actually keep," Chris said. His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but Piper, Paige and Leo, as well as Phoebe, could hear the sadness behind the words.

"Look, Chris-" Leo started to say but was interrupted before he could finish.

"Leo. Leave it," Chris replied. "Much as I'd love to stay and talk with you, I have more important things to do. Finding your son, for one."

"You're my son, too," Leo protested, but faltered at Chris' glare.

"Leave it!"

"Can't you do that talking-thing in your mind with Zach?" asked Paige.

"He's not there anymore," Chris said, staring at the wall.

"What do you mean 'he's not there'?" Piper asked worriedly.

"He's not there," Chris replied angrily. "I can only feel Wyatt."

"Does that mean he's dead?" asked Leo, his eyes widened in horror.

Chris shook his head. "Not dead... erased. If he was dead, we could get him back, but erased..."

"How could he have been erased?" asked Piper in confusion. "I didn't think he had to be conceived yet."

Chris grimaced. "No, he doesn't. I think the future's... frozen, though. I mean, there's a Zach, not our Zach, though. A different person, so we don't have the bond."

Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo all just stared at him. Chris sighed.

"Don't worry," said Chris. "It's too hard to explain, but he'll be fine. Wyatt won't though, unless we figure out who's holding him right now."

A/N: Please review:)