Piles and piles of books were all other the place in Magical School and within one particularly big pile sat Leo. The Elder turned the pages of a large ancient tome, carefully reading each page. "There has to be something here…" he muttered to himself.
"It is hard to find something, when you do not know what you are looking for," the distinct British tones of Gideon filled the room, as he entered carrying several more books. "Maybe if there was something more to go on…"
"Unfortunately there isn't more Gideon," Leo said, slamming the tome shut, "and we're running low on time."
"How are you even sure that that's true?" the other Elder asked sceptically, "after all, time travel is a complicated process and the boy could've got his facts wrong."
"No Gideon! Chris is certain that what ever evil turns Wyatt happens before his birth."
"Very well…there just isn't a lot to go by."
Gideon left Leo to continue looking through the books. He entered his study and shut the door behind him with a heavy sigh.
"What if they don't stop Wyatt turning evil in time?" Sigmund asked from where he was sitting.
"Then we must do what is necessary," Gideon said slowly, "for the Greater Good."
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Leo heard a loud bang from another room. Curiously he rose from his seat and headed over to the room and opened the door. As he did so he barely missed getting blown to bits but the door took the brunt of the blast.
"Piper!" he gasped out in alarm.
"Sorry," came the reply, "I'm venting!"
"Venting?" he asked, entering the room fully.
"Leo, I'm pregnant!" Piper snapped. "Not to mention hormonal, cranky and just look at the size of me…I'm huge!"
Leo looked at Piper taking in the size of her stomach. This he realised was the wrong thing to do, as Piper was now glaring at him.
"You think I'm huge!"
"No," Leo cried, trying to rectify his mistake, "of course not! You're as beautiful as ever…"
"Yeah right!"
"Piper, honestly…you are not huge!" He gripped her hands and looked her straight in the eye.
"Fine," she mumbled, before her mood changed suddenly. "How's the search going?"
"Fine…good….nothing to worry about," he said a bit too quickly.
Piper raised an eyebrow and went to say something but Leo interrupted her saying he had better go and continue with what he had been doing.
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Two figures materialised in a flurry of blue and white orbs into Magic School.
"And you brought me here because…" Chris said, with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought you could spend some quality time with your mother," Paige replied with a smile, "and leave the work to the adults."
"I'm an adult!"
Paige rolled her eyes. "I mean those who have already been born." Chris scowled at her. "Come on, you need the rest and Piper thinks you're avoiding her!"
"I'm not avoiding her…"
Paige gave him a sceptical look that said 'Yeah right!'
"I'm not!" Chris pressed. "It's just weird, you know. To see my mother young…alive… oh and not to mention pregnant with me!"
"Yeah that is freaky."
Just then Leo emerged from a room with a strange expression on his face. He smiled when he noticed Chris and Paige.
"I wouldn't go in there," he said, gesturing to the room he had just exited.
"Why not?" Paige asked.
"She's venting!"
"Did she blow you up?" Chris asked.
"Err no…"
"Well it can't be that bad then."
Chris cautiously opened the door and walked in, ready to run back out again if Piper so much as moved her little finger.
"Mom?"
"Chris?" Piper moved over to him with a warm smile on her face. "Oh honey, what are you doing here?"
"What, can't a future son spend some quality time with his past mother who is currently pregnant with him?" he asked innocently.
"Ha ha," was the sarcastic reply.
"I just came to see you," he said, "with a little push from Aunt Paige."
Piper smiled at him. Ever since everyone found out about Chris's identity and they had all witness his memory of his mother's death, Chris had gradually began to open up and call Piper 'Mom' and Paige and Phoebe 'Aunt' – now he just said it unconsciously. With Leo he had just begun to attempt calling him 'Dad' but it was hard for the young witch-whitelighter – what with the last time he'd ever called Leo 'Dad' being when he's mother had died and that version of Leo had all but accused his son of not saving her.
"Well I feel huge," Piper sulked.
"You're not huge," Chris replied instantly, earning a smile from his mother.
"Well at least you're quicker than your father. But seriously Chris, was I this…big…in your time?"
Chris shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? I do know that I weighed less than Wyatt at birth…if that helps."
"Maybe I'm eating too much?" Piper mused. "Did I have any cravings?"
"I don't know! Remember who you're pregnant with…"
"Oh…sorry. No more pregnancy questions then."
"Thank you!"
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"You've found nothing!" Paige cried in disbelieve.
"It's so frustrating," Leo groaned, "with all this information there should be something…anything!"
"We're running out of time"
"Don't you think I know that!" Leo snapped and then instantly felt bad for doing so. "I'm sorry Paige, I didn't mean to snap. Its just I'm worried that's all."
"I know – we all are"
Just then they both heard the sound of Phoebe's voice calling, wondering where everyone was and why the Manor was empty. Leo told Paige to go see what she wanted and the young women orbed out.
"Hey, where were you?" Phoebe asked as Paige appeared.
"Magic School!"
"Oh – anything?" she asked hopefully.
Paige shook her head and then asked Phoebe what she had wanted.
"Oh, I got the paper's Crime Reporter to give me some information about drawing up a list of suspects…"
"And?"
"It comes out to being someone we would least expect," Phoebe explained, "or, typically, a white male between the ages of 25 and 40"
"Oh well that narrows it down," Paige cried, throwing her hands in the air. "Who was the guy that gave you this?"
"Damien Carter – he's the paper's Crime Reporter."
"Damien?" Paige raised her eyebrows. "Now there's a real demonic name if I've ever heard one."
"Oh don't be ridiculous!" Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. "Damien's perfectly harmless."
"Really?"
"Yes," Phoebe said firmly. "I haven't picked up on any feelings of evil from him at all…"
