A/N: Well, ask and you shall receive. There have been requests for a more in depth glimpse of why Chris is so easily believing that Reilly is evil. This chapter should help to explain that.

I apologize for not responding to any of the reviews of the last chapter. I've just been swamped with stuff, and thought I should concentrate on writing the next chapter.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(The Future)

"How dare you yell at me like that, Chris? Guess what, I'm not one of your children!" An adult and purely pissed off Phyra asked in a growl.

"How dare? You sent my seven year old daughter through time!" Chris yelled.

Phyra allowed a small smile. "Raven wanted to go, Chris. If I hadn't helped her, she would have used one of your spells in the book. Then she would have ended up in the Dark Ages or something. With my potion, it bound her to you, so that no matter what else happened, she would have dropped right into a time line where you were."

"You dropped her into the middle of a death trap! Konix is bad enough, but with Reilly there too…"

"She'll be perfectly safe. Reilly would never hurt Raven! I've been telling you that for years! He is a good kid, he's just pissed off because his father doesn't trust him, and he thinks you don't love him!"

"This is none of your business, Phy!" Chris ground out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I think it is! Chris, your son is doing evil things and all because he knows that's exactly what you expect of him! Can't you just swallow your pride, and go to him? Admit you were wrong? You can fix this, Chris, if you wanted to!"

"IF I WANTED TO? Who the HELL do you think you are, Phy? Of course, I want to! I want my son back! I want him to be good again! Do you really think that I like the fact that there's a vanquishing potion in the cupboard for MY SON?" Chris' voice was raw with pain and anger.

"I know you don't want him dead, Chris! But REILLY doesn't know that! You've threatened to bind his powers, made him an outcast in his own family, and then to top it all off, you've removed the one good piece of his life at the moment- Raven- and left him completely alone to the lure of evil." She took a step forward towards him. "You want to know why Kylie and I sent Raven to the past? Because we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that your past self would fix this. He doesn't have a chip on his shoulder. He's not so afraid of losing his family that he pushes them aside. It was an accident, Chris. What happened to Keira, was an accident, just a horrible accident."

"I know that." Chris answered softly.

"Logically you do, anyway. But every time you think about Maya, you can't quite be sure, can you? Once a demon, always a demon?"

"She was my wife. It wasn't her fault."

"She was a deceitful bitch who lured us all into thinking she was this perfect picture of innocence and light. All the while, she was plotting behind our backs, and using us all. She gave a child, hoping that it would have powers that she could groom into her heir. Reilly was that child. It wasn't his fault that God gave him demonic powers, Chris. It also isn't his fault that Maya trained him to use them."

"I should have seen it, Phy. I should have known."

"How Chris? How were you supposed to see it? She never used her demonic powers except for shimmering. She never ever let on that she knew any demons. And she certainly never mentioned that her supposedly 'dead' father was the Source! None of us knew the truth, and none of us suspected her of being anything more than a loving wife and mother."

Phyra hugged her stoic cousin quickly. "But Chris, Reilly wasn't to blame for his mother's actions. He is good, no matter what his actions recently have shown."

Chris sighed. "He was good, Phy. When I accused him, and told him I'd bind his powers, he was good. But now? Now, I just… he's done so many things that can swing either way. I just don't what to do anymore." Chris rubbed his temples wearily.

"You're only a true demon if you kill an innocent. That's what you and Wyatt told me after I hurt that jerk when I had Cole's powers. As long as Reilly hasn't killed an innocent, he'll be okay. You can still get him back." Younger Phyra spoke for the first time. She was still shocked to see herself as an adult, but more than that, the realization that her new cousin was a real demon stunned her.

Both Chris and adult Phyra whipped around to face her. "Phy, sweetheart…" Chris started.

"Stop! I'm not a baby, Chris. I want to help. Has Reilly killed any innocents?" she insisted.

"No, not that I know of." Chris finally answered, his gaze flipped between the two versions of his cousin.

"So he can still be saved."

"If he wants to be, that is."

"Shut UP Chris! You know that's not true. You can so save someone without them wanting it. You saved Wyatt before, and he sure didn't want to be saved. He was really happy, just chillin' as the ruler of all evil." Peyton broke in, defending her little sister.

A warm rich chuckle filled the attic. "They've got you outnumbered, huh, Chris?" Wyatt asked lazily from his perch in the attic doorway.

"Wyatt! What are you doing here? Everyone okay?"

"I'm here because my daughter orbed into the restaurant, telling me she was afraid Uncle Chris was going to explode her into a million pieces."

Phyra snorted. "As if… what a little chicken. She just didn't want to hear him yell."

"Yeah, that's basically it. " Wyatt confirmed. "Besides, I figured I should probably own up to the fact that I planted the idea in Raven's mind."

"WHAT! WYATT…" Chris bellowed, then abruptly stopped, desperately trying to get his emotions under control.

"She wanted to help, Chris. She's the only one that can now. Reilly knows that she is no threat to him, that she is the one person who loves and believes him without prejudice. He thinks that you and I and Phy are just out to find him so that we can bind his powers. His other brothers and sisters and cousins are too old, and he thinks they'll be just working for us. Plus, Raven is the only person that Reilly trusts unconditionally. She's heard all the stories of how you saved me from evil. She wants to do the same for him."

"Big difference there, Wy! I was twenty three when I went back to save you! She's only seven!"

"She'll be okay, Chris. Reilly won't hurt her. Plus, me and you will protect her in the past. You know she has a bigger blabber mouth than Aunt Phoebe. She'll tell them all within a few minutes of meeting them. They won't let her get hurt."

"Maya is alive in that time, Wy." Chris' voice was quiet. "We haven't vanquished her yet."

"She won't hurt her own daughter, Chris."

"Why not? She had Keira killed, knowing that Reilly would be blamed for it. She tried to kill Abby. And she stabbed Phiona with that poisoned athame when Phi was only six! I can't believe we forgave her, and believed her when she said that a demon had shape shifted into her and done it! Why wouldn't she hurt or even kill Raven. Or Reilly either for that matter? What better way to make us all even more indebted to her, than to kill the evil behind the attack?" Chris pushed to his feet.

Patience gasped. "Maya? Maya's evil? I mean, she has demon in her, but she's good."

Wyatt looked over to his younger cousins. "No, she's not good. She had us all fooled, but she is actually one of the most evil creatures we've ever faced." His face shadowed. "I just wish we'd found out earlier."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

(The Present)

Chris looked at Piper helplessly. "Mom, can you get us some cookies? This calls for cookies."

"Sure, honey. What kind is your favorite, Raven?"

"Chocolate Peanut Butter, just like Daddy! Can I have some milk, too, Grammy? I'm thirsty."

"Of course you can. I'll get it for you, sweetheart." Maya answered.

Raven's eyes got big, and she immediately hid behind Chris and Wyatt's legs. "Daddy!"

"Hey, hey…what's wrong? It's okay." Chris soothed, not seeing what was wrong.

Raven didn't answer, not taking her eyes off Maya. Wyatt knelt down, hugging his brother's baby. "Raven, what's wrong? You can tell us. We'll keep you safe. Are you surprised to see your mommy?"

"She's not my mommy!" Raven yelled, startling Wyatt.

"She's not?" Chris asked, stunned at the thought of having children with anyone but Maya.

"She's nothing but a demon. She deserves everything she gets." She turned her gaze to Maya. "EXCALIBUR!" she yelled, feeling the cold hard slide of the sword hit her palm. She threw it telekinetically, hurling it directly at Maya's throat. With a quick motion of her hand, she froze the sword with the point touching Maya's skin without breaking it, keeping her trapped between the wall and the sword. "You don't deserve to die that easy. Daddy, make her stay away. She's bad. She's evil, and working for the Source."

Chris gaped, staring at the magical sword still hovering at his wife's throat. "Raven…you're wrong. I don't know what happens in the future, but Maya would never work for the Source. She's part demon, which is probably what you're sensing, but she only uses her powers for good, never evil."

Raven laid a palm on her father's cheek. "Daddy, please, you have to believe me. I'm not sensing anything. I know that she's evil, because of the future. Right after she has him, she starts getting sloppy. She starts grooming Reilly as soon as he's born. She only wants you so that she can have powerful children. As soon as she gets one that has strong demon ties, she starts to groom him to be a demon. It's not Reilly's fault that he can't use his white lighter powers. She suppresses them with a potion. Please, daddy, please believe me."

"Will someone please get this fucking sword away from my throat!" Maya screeched angrily.

"I can put it through your throat if you want." Raven said sweetly, her eyes still cold and harsh.

"Raven!" Chris admonished. "Look, honey, I believe you, I do. I have no doubt you're telling the truth, but you probably don't know the entire story. Most likely, your mom was possessed or a demon had turned her morality. Your mom is good, honey, I know that."

"SHE'S NOT MY MOMMY!" Raven screamed, her emotions again shattering the nearest vases sitting on the coffee table. She closed her eyes to calm her emotions in a classic Chris way that had Wyatt smiling despite the obvious tensions. "My mom is Julia. Julia Erin Lennox-Halliwell. She's Auntie Abby's sister. She's NOT evil!"

"Julia? Julia is your mom?" Wyatt asked, astonished. He'd only met Abby's sister a couple of times, and as far as he knew, Chris never had.

"Uh huh. They met at Magic School. Daddy was teaching a class for Grampy, and Mommy was working in the library. They met and fell in love." Raven said shyly.

"Chris, move this sword, right now! How do you know she's not the one that's a demon? Move this thing, I'm your wife, Chris! Move it, NOW!" Maya screeched again, angrier.

"Daddy can't move it. Excalibur won't listen to him." Raven said calmly.

"Oh right. Like it listens to you? Please, Wyatt is the master of Excalibur. Everyone knows that." Maya sneered derisively.

"Uncle Wyatt is the master of Excalibur in his generation. But now that I'm around, it's mine. Uncle Wyatt is teaching me how to use it." Raven answered. She snapped her fingers, and the sword slowly turned. "Wanna see how my TK works with it?"

Maya gulped, feeling the sweat run down her spine. How the hell did this little brat know her plans? She'd hidden them so carefully for almost a decade. Under no circumstances would she let this little germ destroy her carefully laid plans.

"Whoa…Did anyone else feel that?" Wyatt asked quickly. "Hatred, pure demonic hatred."

"Oh my God, Chris, the assassins. It must be the assassins are here. Hurry, my God. Wyatt, move this sword. We can't let any of them break us apart." Maya gasped, quickly hiding her emotions from her powerful brother in law.

"No, Maya. I don't think I will move the sword. Those emotions just got blocked. Demons don't generally do that unless they're under cover as humans. I only see one person that could have come from." Wyatt answered slowly. "Why have you lied to us?"

"I…I haven't lied. I'm not lying to you Wyatt! I love Chris! I do, honestly. Why do you believe her over me?" Maya managed to squeeze out a few tears.

"Probably because deep down they never trusted you, any more than they've ever trusted me." A hard voice answered as he stepped out of his shimmering circle to stand tall in front of the parents he hated.

"REILLY!" Raven shrieked happily.