Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine. It's owned by … to tell you the truth I'm not quite sure. But it doesn't belong to me.

Summary: No-one can ever have that perfect a cover on their first go. What if Chris blew it the first time round?

Recap: Chris accepted the hug, holding Wyatt carefully so he wouldn't get squished. Eventually Leo pulled back, and like Piper, gazed at his son proudly before remembering something.

"Chris, why are you here?"

Chapter 4

The room went silent. Chris' aunts had come down from their hyped up state and everyone was waiting for Chris to answer. He sat holding his older brother, smiling at the baby that seemed so strange to him while he thought how best to answer Leo's question.

"Because of Wyatt." He answered eventually. "I'm here because of Wyatt."

"Why?" asked Leo. "Has something hurt him?"

"No." Chris laughed bitterly. "No. Nothing's hurt him. It's a matter of all the other people who have been hurt. All the others who have died." He hesitated.

"What was he turned into?" asked Piper warily. "And why can't you solve it in your time?"

"Don't worry, mom. He's still 100 human. I think. Listen, let me tell you some of what my life is like." Chris said, standing abruptly and starting to pace. He still held Wyatt, who was starting to drop off to sleep.

"Just picture this. San Francisco is like a ghost town. The city is half demolished. Ordinary people live in fear. Magic has been exposed, and demons run the place. What's left of the Elders is in hiding. They've all been killed. The witch trials have been brought back. Every day, innocents are DYING. The city is run by a dictator. Hell, he runs North America. He's a monster. But he wasn't always. This … being was once hailed as the savior of magic. He-"

Here Chris stopped again.

"There is a resistance against him. Witches, and mortals who know that all magic isn't bad. I'm a part of it." He laughed, again seeming half bitter. "To tell the truth, I probably founded it. I was the first to know, you see. I saw what everyone else refused to. Saw that he was going evil, corrupt. All he wanted was power. And he was – is, willing to do anything to get it."

Chris closed his eyes, and a single tear coursed its way down his cheek, dropping off his chin to land on Wyatt's head.

"I'm sorry. It's hard to think about. Here, mom. You'd better put Wyatt to bed. I'm going to have to go."

"Why, Chris? Where are you going?" Paige asked him. He looked surprised.

"I have to find somewhere to stay, of course." Phoebe looked at him like he was insane.

"No, you don't. You're staying here." Chris started. Has the Manor really been a museum so long I'd forgotten I once lived here?

"I'll make up the spare bed." Leo was saying. Chris smiled. Cool. I get to stay at home again.

Leo went upstairs to make up a bed for Chris, and Piper went with him to put Wyatt to bed. Phoebe and Paige decided to try their hand at making dinner, and after a while Chris decided to go and rescue them, before they gave the rest of the family food poisoning.

Once more normalness reigned in the Halliwell household. Well, normal for a family with the Power of Three, an angel, a magical baby and a twenty-three year old son who hadn't been born yet. Yes, things were just as usual there.

Later on, as everyone had finished dinner and were sitting around the dining-room table, Phoebe brought up the subject of why Chris was in the past again.

"This dictator guy, you said he was once good, right? So whatever turns him is now, in this time, isn't it? Do we know him? And in the future. Do you know him well? Personally?" Chris smiled sadly.

"I thought I did, once. But I really don't think that you should know who he is. I know it may help, but you would never believe me, and you'd probably just think I was an imposter, or something."

"What? Of course we wouldn't think you were an imposter, Chris! And we need to know who it is so we can stop him." Chris hesitated.

"If I tell you, only if, you'd have to be prepared to believe me. You're not going to like hearing this. And don't tell me what you wouldn't do. You forget, I

saw-" He bit his lip. The last thing they need to hear is how they reacted to me telling them Wyatt was evil in the future. It took me the deaths of Price and Paige-Mel to convince them the last time.

"I promise we'll believe you, Chris. Even if it's one of us." Leo joked. Chris winced at that, which Piper immediately noticed.

"What? It isn't one of us, is it? Chris?"

"Nnoo. It's not one of the 4 of you, it's, well-" Do not choke up now, Chris. You did this once, you can do it again. "He's, umm, it's-"

"Me." Announced an ominous voice from the sitting-room.

AnimeAlexis: I have no excuses. Well, I have lots, but I doubt you'd accept them. So I'd just like to say, I AM SOOOOO SORRY IT HAS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE! I really am. But I'll get the Net at home soon, so I'll be quicker. I promise! Anyway, if it's not too much trouble on your part, I'd love to know what you think. Also in regards to one of my other stories, A Visit From Above. If I'm going to keep writing it, I need a plot! I might have one or two ideas, but help is ALWAYS welcome. So press the button, people!