Chapter 3

Future

The room around her suddenly felt small and cramped as the words of her eldest son registered within her mind. He was gone. Her youngest child left without so much as two words to her or his father but the most disturbing part of it all were the words that he had spoken to his brother.

"What's the matter big brother? Scared" the young witch had questioned in a malice tone before adding "Good almighty one, you should be" and walking into the portal.

When she was told of her son's words and cold stare that accompanied them her initial reactions were those of surprise, inquisitiveness and despair. She didn't understand this. Those words and the chilling glance that his brother described to she and her husband were nothing like the boy they knew, loved and cared for. Or were they?

Her once sweet, understanding and brave angel had changed a lot over the past several years and leaving in his place a very churlish, off putting, short tempered young man who didn't seem to want anything to do with them. The younger Halliwell boy would always say that he had other more "important" things to do then to hang around Wyatt's parents, aunts and cousins. His words were filled with such hate and loathing that it was difficult to overlook or shrug off. It was as if their very presence put him in a bad mood causing him to suck his teeth, roll his eyes and immediately leave the room even when he was begged to stay.

Deep down she hoped that it was just a phase and that given some time her little boy would return to his gentle natured state. As her thoughts continued to drift her son's words became nothing more then a series of muffled sounds as walls appeared to be closing in on her and her breaths became labored she was then pulled into a memory of an event that took place just a few short days before her son disappearance.

Flashback

"Wyatt, Chris!" Leo called out to his two sons as he tried to put together a new bookshelf after yet another demon had destroyed the one before it. The pieces were quite heavy so the man knew that he would need the help of his two sons.

"Yeah Dad" Wyatt spoke coming down the stairs with his brother walking slowly behind him despite the fact that he had a clear view of his struggling father.

"A little help here please" the man answered back as he held one of the side pieces in his hand straining hard to keep it from falling to the floor.

The older of the two immediately ran over to help his father while Piper watched her older son staring on amusedly. The smile on the boy's face made the woman nervous as he now leaned over the banister looking at his struggling father and brother. He seemed to be focusing rather intently on something. Piper's heart skipped a beat as she could almost see the evil thoughts running through her younger sons mind. But that couldn't be.

Chris was her good son, her brave boy that never really needed her help or guidance and having met him so long ago and having witnessed his inner strength she knew that he was tough and willful unlike his older sibling that constantly needed her attention and rescuing. The boy was always in some sort of trouble or another and thank God those days were far behind them and Wyatt had turned out to be a wonderful young man and she had only her youngest child to thank for that.

She smiled slightly to herself as she thought about his visit to the past so long ago and how happy she was to have her little hero back. Chris was an amazing child being able to defend himself at a young age just as his counter part had. She knew that she could leave him alone for just a few minutes as they chased after Wyatt's demon of the week and he would be just fine. Normally she would be a wreck and worry about a small child but then again her son was no ordinary child. Not to say that she didn't take precautionary measures and surround the manor with crystals until she and her sisters returned, she just knew how capable and fearless her son was. Everyone always said Wyatt was the one with the powers but Chris was the one with true strength.

Suddenly a loud crashing noise filled the air followed by her husband's pained screams shocking the woman back to reality.

"LEO!" the woman yelled as she rushed over to her husbands side trying desperately to lift the heavy object off of the man along side her eldest child. "Chris help us!" the woman called out as she turned a little to make eye contact with her younger child and what she saw sent chills up and down her spine.

There he was smiling broadly with his hand pushing down on an invisible object as he eyes became a lighter shade of green the way they always did when he was extremely happy about something. What the hell could he possibly be happy about? She thought before turning back to her husband that losing consciousness.

"Chris please" she begged as her son returned his hands to back to his side suddenly making the heavy board easier to move.

At that moment the harsh realization hit her like a tone of bricks as the twice blessed son kneeled his hands over his father's body allowing the familiar light to radiate from them. Her little boy was the cause of his father's accident. "No" she whispered while shaking her head. Her older child must have heard her because he answered back

"It's ok Mom. Dad will be fine" he said as he continued his work.

Knowing that her husband was in fact going to be ok she headed up the stairs grabbing her son roughly by the arm and leading him upstairs into his bedroom and slamming the door shut behind them. She couldn't do it down stairs where are Leo was because the pain of past memories would send the man over the edge and force him to deal with the pain of knowing that his son hated him again in yet another time line.

"Chris" the woman began in a clam manner as her son leaned back on his bed and grinned at her knowing that the woman was on to him.

"Yes Piper" the boy responded as a look of shock came over the woman's features.

"Excuse me Christopher! You will not address me by my first name young man its Mom to you. Do you understand me?" Piper Halliwell-Wyatt spoke in her best no nonsense tone.

"Whatever. What do you want?"

Piper could not believe what she was seeing and hearing from her once angelic child. What the hell happened? What tragic event had taken place to turn her baby into this cold hearted, hate filled boy. Taking a deep breath and calming herself down she continued.

"Chris I don't know what's gotten into you but you could talk to me honey. If anything is wrong or if you feel your father and I have done something then please tell me so we can fix this. So I can have my sweet little boy back" the older witch spoke as she moved to caress his face and to show the boy that he could trust her.

At this the boy seemed to soften a little as he allowed the woman to touch his face even leaning into it a little before abruptly pulling away causing the woman to jump slightly.

"Don't even try it. You've never been a mother to me so don't pretend to start caring now" the boy said now distancing himself from her, his own mother.

None of this was making any sense to Piper. When Chris was younger they were so close. In fact the boy was close to all of them. She couldn't take this. She couldn't take her son hating her and shying away from her touch any longer she had to find out what was going on and why he felt this way.

"Sweetie look at me" the woman requested as she reached out to caress his cheek. He was about to pull away again but his mother moved closer to him giving the boy no room to move away.

Gently taking his hand in hers she said "I don't know what's going on with you Chris but I love you and I will do what I have to, to show you how much I care and I know your father will too"

As she spoke those comforting words to him he seemed to let down his shield once again but before the boy could express his concerns and feelings to the woman his older sibling walked in instantly causing him to retreat again.

"Oh, here's your precious boy now. Why don't you run off and take care of him like you always do" Piper was surprised by her sons outburst and was about to protest before he cut her off. "I don't know why I was considering giving you another chance. I don't know why I even thought for one second that you might love me and care about me. God HOW STUIPD CAN I GET!" the boy yelled causing the manor to shake.

"Chris I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll go" the boy's brother dejectedly spoke unable to hide his pain at his brother's harsh words. Wyatt loved Chris and he never understood why he hated him so much. He didn't know what he had done to bring this new attitude about but whatever it was he would get the truth out of his brother once he calmed down and he hoped that once the truth was out that they would be able to repair their relationship.

"Oh don't go Wyatt. Piper would be lost without you. If anyone's going anywhere it's me"

"Honey please calm down and listen to me" she teary eyed woman spoke as she tried to pull her son into a hug.

He then pushed her away hard knocking the woman to the floor as her sobs grew harder.

"What the hell's the matter with you Chris? Were just want to know how to help you. God you've been so angry with us for so long but yet you won't tell any of us why?"

"Help me! Please since when do you people even know I exist" the boy shouted back.

"That's not true! We love you honey and we've been giving you your space hoping that you would come around…"

"Whatever. I'm so done with you people"

"Done? What do you mean?" questioned the boy's mother who had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What's going on in here?" asked the boy's father as he entered the room.

"Oh I'm so glad you're here Leo" the boy spoke ignoring the hurt look on his father's face as he used his first name. "I was just saying good bye to everyone"

"Why where are you going" the man's father asked as he took in the sight of his wife and eldest son.

"It doesn't matter. You'll all know soon enough and by the time you realize what's going on, there won't be a damn thing you can do to stop it" the boy said with a wicked grin before orbing away.

End of Flashback

"Mom, please, say something" the voice of her first born child called out awakening her from the painful memory.

"Piper" her husband now spoke putting a comforting arm around the woman he loved while trying to hold it together himself.

"I…I…why?" was she could say as she tried to figure out what she did wrong and what made her such a terrible mother. After all Chris basically say that she favored Wyatt over him or at least that's how it appeared to be in his eyes.

"I don't know Mom but I'm sure this will help us figure out why" the boy said with a stack of papers in his hands.

"What's that?" questioned the boy's father.

"It's Chris's diary. I got it from off of his computer" the young man answered before continuing. "I didn't want to go through it until the both of you were here and I swear I would have told you about Chris leaving earlier but I didn't want to ruin your vacation. I mean you guys have been working so hard for years and I didn't want to interrupt the only time you've had alone together in years" he spoke softly as he looked down at the floor.

"It's ok son. I just…I…" Leo began painfully feeling the worse than he had in ages knowing that his son had left home because he hated him so much reminding him of Chris's time in the past and the fact that he would travel back in time just to get away from him forced a whimper to escape the man's mouth.

"Don't worry Dad, we're going to get him back I promise but first we have to find out why he went and what made him hate us so much" he said giving both of his parents a knowing look. He knew that the two must have been feeling horrible but the sooner they found out the answer to their questions the sooner they could bring their youngest member home.

As much as Piper didn't want to hear the callous words that were sure to come from the written thoughts of her son, she knew that it was the only way to convince him to come home, to let him know that he was loved and that together they could handle anything. Shifting her gaze from her husband to her son the she spoke "Ok, it's time we learned the truth. It's time we know what was really on in the mind of our boy"

Past

The man had turned the knob and opened the door slightly before he heard someone enter the manor.

"Hello is anybody home" the voice he recognized as his wife's called out.

"Yeah Piper I'll be down in a sec" the man replied as he suddenly heard the water turn off.

Finding it rather odd the man was about to walk in anyway but he decided against it thinking that Paige or Phoebe realized their mistake and turned it off with a spell. Shrugged it off he released the knob from his grasp and walked down stairs.

"That was close" the boy said to himself as he grabbed a towel from the shelf and warped it around his waist. He then gathered his clothing and orbed out. Reforming in the attic he began searching boxes in hopes of finding some of his father's old clothing that the man usually kept in the attic. As he was checking several boxes he noticed another one in the corner with his name on it. Thinking it would be amusing to see some of his baby clothes he walked over to the box and peeled back the tape that sealed it shut.

His amused grin then turned into one of astonishment and confusion as he took in the sight of adult sized clothing. Why the hell was this possible if he was not more then a year old in this time? What was going on? He wanted to stay and ponder further but he knew that his parents would sense someone in the house soon and start looking for the intruded so he had to dress quickly and orb away before he was found. Slipping on a black T-shirt, black jeans and a black and grey sweater the boy was set to orb away when he was hit with a premonition. One that would change the way he saw them forever.

"I swear to you Piper the water was running when I got here" the man said following his wife around the kitchen as she put away the groceries.

"That's not possible Leo, it was off when I left and Paige and Phoebe were already dressed" the woman said worried for her husband's sanity for the second time in a little over a year.

"Listen just come with me upstairs and I'll show you that the shower is wet and the smell of soap is probably still in the air"

"Yeah from when Phoebe and Paige used it this morning Leo" she replied before turning to him "Are you feeling ok honey?" she questioned as she put a hand on the man's forehead.

"Yes Piper I'm fine and don't change the subject"

Knowing that the man wouldn't let up until he showed her his "proof" she reluctantly agreed.

"Fine Leo let's get this over with" she said following the man up the stairs to see something that she knew wouldn't be there.

The second they arrived at the bathroom door the woman pushed it open eager to prove her point but when the exact opposite happened she froze.

"I don't understand" she said looking around. Her younger sister was the last one in the bathroom that morning and she was sure that the woman had turned it off, but then again she was so pressed for time and in such a rush maybe she didn't hear her turn off the shower after all. "Well maybe Paige did forget" she spoke softly not believing her own words.

"See I told you" the man said relieved to know that he wasn't going insane after all.

"Ok you were right. Happy now?" the woman smiled through her confusion.

"Very" replied Leo. As he was about to leave he saw a shiny gold object sitting on the bathroom sink.

"Leo what are you staring at?" questioned the witch as watched him walk over and take the item in his hands. She studied the man as the color drained from his face while he stood before her not taking his eyes off of the object.

"Leo what is it" she asked not liking the look on his face.

"It's…I" the man began choking on his words as his hands started to shake.

"Leo, please. Talk to me" the woman said putting her hands on his arm and forcing him to face her. When she didn't get a response she snatched what she could now see was a gold chain out of his hands. Her heart skipped a beat as she ran her fingers over the initials at the base of the chain. She knew who it belonged to or rather who it would belong too and believe it. Not wanting to trust her own eyes she brushed past her husband who followed slowly behind her as she walked hurriedly into her bedroom.

She then pulled open her dresser draw and pulled out a white box that one day she would give to her little boy and gasped in shock she read the letters over and over again.

Those letters: C.P.H