Disclaimer: Why is this like de juh vu? I mean, I KNOW I've never said that this isn't my story before… Maybe I'm just turning into physic little Phoebe, here… :eeks:

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"Bypass 34..." repeated Prue, leafing through the information stored in her memory. "I dunno… Chris has never mentioned it before, or at least to me. There was that whole year and a half we were separated, though; maybe something about it came up with him during that time."

"You were separated?" echoed Leo, arching a querying eyebrow.

Prue nodded, lost in thought. "Yeah… when he was fourteen, a few weeks after y--- his parents died, he called me for the last time he would in ages. Told me he was going to disappear and not to worry. He was gone for over a year and was proclaimed dead by the authorities. There were so many murders so often then, they didn't even give it the seven years before they put his 'death' in the books. The next time I saw him…" she waved a vague hand before continuing, "He was fifteen, prisoner and tortured by his own brothers, and putting an energy shield around the entire earth as the Source was throwing asteroids at it."

"What?" exclaimed four voices. Then Phoebe remarked, "If the Source was throwing asteroids at Earth, why would he if he was on it, too? I mean, wouldn't he die with everyone else?"

"What are you--" began Prue, confused before realization hit her. "Oh… you don't know that there are other planets suitable for humans yet, do you? I suppose not… 2004... Anyway, the Source was set up at an off-world base. He moved his main headquarters back here after he realized Chris wasn't going to let him destroy this planet. I mean, he did manage to get a few past the shield-- after Chris got exhausted from the effort and the shield started flickering-- and now North Africa and South Asia are just craters and volcanoes… but that's beside the point."

Shaking her head as though it would clear the plethora of disorienting information, Paige put them back on track, "Is there any way to figure out what the bypass is? I mean someone else who might know… internet site…?" Internet site. The laptop. They were all thinking about it, but Prue wouldn't admit it as she called out quite oddly,

"Free Style, here, Free Style!"

Out of nowhere, a portal opened above the table and the winged wolf cub flew majestically from it, soaring to a halt and landing in front of Prue. It cocked its head attentively at the woman and Phoebe had the irresistible urge to jump up and cuddle the cute creature. She did resist, though, remembering what would happen if she did touch it. Instead, she asked,

"Its name is Free Style?"

"English translation, yeah. No one besides his zail-mate can pronounce his actual birth name," Prue explained, meaning Chris. She turned her attention to the winged one. "Hey, little guy. Could you use that nifty little link with Chris you have to ask him what bypass 34 is?"

Free Style cocked his head the other way and an image appeared suddenly on the table. It was at first sight like a miniature, three-dimensional movie. Without being told, they knew it had tapped into Chris' power to astral project memories.

It showed Chris sitting on a tabletop, slightly younger, asking their exact same question.

"What's so special about bypass 34?" he inquired of a robed Source. The two were at that apartment they had seen in the last memory stop, but this time they were in the kitchen, not the boy's bedroom. They still couldn't see the Source's face.

The Source considered the young one, leaning against the countertop. It seemed as if they had been talking for quite a while now. At length the Source responded in that awful, deep and malicious voice, "It's a bypass around this building and the Resistance thinks I don't know about it." He laughed, a sound that sent ice down the ones watching's spines, made them recoil slightly into themselves. "What they don't know is that I've swamped it with Titans on the other side of their 'report back on situation' point. They've been sending people stupidly through it for months without even realizing those people are dead the next day." He laughed again, but Chris had already slipped silently from the room.

The scene ended. The ones from the past and Prue alike stared at the spot it had once been, one word registering through all their minds. The zail beat his wings for a second before vanishing through another portal.

The next thing they knew, Prue was on her feet, talking one-hundred words a second. "Okay, you guys, I don't think Chris will mind if you crash at his place while I go look after him. Just don't touch anything you might happen to find on any of his desks and don't go in his bedroom or he won't hesitate to vanquish you. I'll be back in an hour or so. Don't go wandering around the base, either; you don't have IDs or any explanation they'd believe. Bye!" She waved a hand and they abruptly found themselves being orbed to the floor above them, along with their food.

When they reappeared, they saw that they were in a different apartment than the one they kept seeing the fifteen year old in. Putting it lightly, the place was a wreck. However, that was still such an understatement it was humorous. The walls all had burn marks, as though from energy and fire balls, a few dressers were turned over, the floor was littered with papers, rock-like things, pens, pencils, screwdrivers, hardware, computer hardware, and even more. The counters were covered in newspaper clippings and laptops, as were the desks--- which all five desks had so much stuff piled on them it was hard to make out the fact that the kid even owned one desk. It was a relatively basic apartment, besides the mess. One kitchen, two bedrooms (Chris' was obviously the one with the door locked), each had its own bathroom, a living room (which they had first landed in), and another room that held a stereo system, a TV, and two of the debatable desks.

"Geez," moaned Piper, already beginning to rub her hands, fidgeting. "I swear, if I was his mother…"

"He wouldn't live to see tomorrow," finished Paige, laughing nervously at what she was saying, considering his history. She still couldn't believe herself--- she was a social worker, and still she hadn't noticed the signs, even though they had been staring her in the face! Any idiot would have seen it, but still she hadn't. She shook herself mentally. Get a grip Paige, she told herself. Who in their right mind would ever guess that cocky, smart mouthed, self-controlled boy was really getting the crap beat out of him by his own parents whenever nobody was watching? It just didn't seem to be possible to connect the two. But Phoebe noticed… Paige, stop it! Paige admonished herself again.

"Piper! What are you doing?" exclaimed Phoebe, ripping her sister out of her thoughts. Paige turned to find Piper already cleaning the table in the kitchen, moving all the food onto it and placing the unidentifiable junk on the already overloaded counters. Piper glanced up briefly.

"I can't help it. Just come on and eat before it gets cold. Where are the chairs?"

"Uh… I think a leg of one is over there… and that looks like half of a seat…" pointed out Leo. "They're all scorched, though. All the pieces, that is. Think demons ransacked this place?"

"Or a certain little fire deemer threw a tantrum," remarked Paige.

An hour passed, then more. Still no one showed up and they were getting restless. Piper had long since discovered a sink and washed the dishes, and now there was nothing to do as they sat at the table. At long last, Phoebe and Paige stood simultaneously and began to go through Chris' belongings. True to their word, they didn't mess with the desks, and his door was locked anyway so that was not a problem.

Most of the stuff was about demons, or articles about strange disappearances or murders. There was a lot of magic material, particularly potions and weaponry, but they still couldn't figure out what the heck rocks were doing in there.

Phoebe made her way to a laptop and opened it up. It was the one Chris had had when he typed in the site address at the graveyard. She could tell because the page with computer language was still up. Across the room, Paige called out from another laptop,

"I don't believe it--- he has every demon in existence categorized in here! Level, powers, vanquishing spells and potions, locations, habits, killing methods, ways to track them--- everything!"

Piper and Leo came over to see, but Phoebe stayed at her own computer. Holding her breath, the middle sister hit the back button and waited as the scene promoting blackmail loaded.

The pool slid back out of sight, leaving Chris gazing at empty space. His eyes turned forlornly to the main pool.

"Now that's interesting," commented Bianca, watching it retreat. She narrowed her eyes at another pool and it came soaring up to them. Chris turned his attention to the new one… and started.

It showed himself at the age of seven, tearfully pleading with his mother to take the fish away. She was furious with him about something--- she had to be. It was only when he had actually done something that she would use that particular weakness against him. She was screaming at the little boy, but he was barely listening, his glittering green eyes pasted on the-- ironically enough-- angelfish swimming around in the clear fish bowl.

The adult Chris cringed, making Bianca smirk evilly as she sent the pool away with a wave of her hand. The woman peered almost eagerly into the other pools surrounding them, looking for another memory to make her captive as 'uncomfortable' as possible. And Chris couldn't do anything but watch.

It was at that moment that Prue chose to orb in, shouting furiously, "I couldn't freaking find him! I mean, my God! Not liking me to spy on him is one thing, but cloaking himself from me when he's in trouble is completely another! I swear, if he is hurt I will never let him out of my sight again, whether he likes it or not!" She paused to take a breath. Her sisters and brother-in-law stared at her. She finally seemed to register their presence, or at least the fact that they weren't used to seeing her, and stopped to pace herself. "Hey, find everything you need alright? Whoa, what am I asking? Of course not! This place is a train wreck. Hey, what' cha got there, Phoebe?" she added, noticing how Phoebe's attention had become divided.

Prue got up and moved around to see the screen, as did the others. On the surface, it had a button that read 'play'. Phoebe clicked it after a moment's hesitation and they all watched the scene unfolded on the screen (hee hee, that's fun to write). The scene was in a bedroom…

Chris was about seven, his hair dark and somewhat curly, and he was incredibly small for his age. His vivid green eyes were wide with fear, with tears, and he was begging with someone outside the camera's frame. "P-please, don't. I s-swear I didn't mean to use magic. I really, really, really didn't mean to, m-mommy. Please d-don't hit me again. I won't ev-ever again. I swear." But the little boy very abruptly hit the ground as a hand struck him hard across the face.

"Do you honestly believe I care what you say, Christopher?" a horribly angry voice demanded. The woman's homicidal rage was obvious even through the computer, and, frankly, it scared the ones watching. "You can't use magic! What the hell is wrong with you?" She struck the child again after wrenching him back to his feet. He hit the ground again. "Whilst falling through a counter in this house may seem harmless to your naïve little mind, what if it had been in public? What would have happened if you had exposed us? You can't use magic! You can't use magic, you can't use magic!" Again, she jerked him roughly back to his feet and slammed the small child into the bedpost. "You--" she slammed him into the bedpost again, "Cannot--" she did it again. "Use--" and again. "MAGIC!" the woman shoved him so hard into the bedpost this time it crack and the boy cried out in pain, crumpling to the floor.

"Good grief, Christopher!" the woman growled, enraged, exasperated. "Look what you did now! Do you have any idea how much that is going to cost to repair? More than it costs to feed you for a month, for one!"

The little boy gaped at her, dismayed. There seemed to have passed between them an understanding the Charmed Ones failed to pick up on. "But-- but I didn't mean to-- you can't--"

The woman struck the boy again. "Don't you DARE tell me what I can and cannot do!" she snarled. "That is the last straw-- I'm calling your father and we are going to teach you a lesson you will never forget--"

Prue suddenly launched herself forward and X-ed out the screen before the woman could say another word. Her face was white with hues of green. She looked faint, to say the least. The ones from the past halfway wanted to argue, but the other half just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. They had never seen such a small child look so frightened, so helpless, and so defeated. And that child had been their whitelighter. Their cocky, neurotic, self-assured whitelighter from the future they constantly griped at and treated no better than that woman had.

"What happened?" asked Phoebe, finally, softly. "What'd they do to him?"

Prue had her eyes closed and didn't answer at first. When at last she spoke, it wasn't to answer the question. "I can not believe Damien would do this. This is low even for him… no wonder Chris reacted like that… but on the internet? Everyone uses the internet… of course… I still don't believe he could do this to him…"

"Prue, what happened?" asked Paige, more sternly. She didn't know why, but she felt a need to know. Then again, she felt somehow that she already knew…

Prue sighed, eyes still closed. At length she looked up at them and they could see the tears in her blue eyes. "His dad got there. Then… then his parents… his parents…" she paused, closing her eyes again, taking a deep breath. "Then his parentshurt him."

The ones from the past stared, mouths agape. Finally, Paige managed-- insensitively-- "And that's on the internet? Damien put his parents raping his brother on the internet? Dude, that's gross!"

It was Prue's turn to stare. Phoebe, after gaping a moment longer, smacked Paige on the arm. "Paige! How could you say that? Good grief! Can you imagine how that must have devastated that little boy? He was only five!"

"Seven," corrected Prue. "Malnourishment equals smaller child."

"Yeah," said Paige softly. "I saw a lot of that when I was a social worker."

"Malnourishment?" repeated Leo, stammering. "You mean-- when she said-- she really didn't feed him for a month?"

Prue nodded, as in "no, she didn't feed her son for a month".

The Charmed Ones and Leo sank onto the couch conveniently placed behind them. "Unbelievable," breathed Piper, who had been silent until this point. She had been thinking. The woman in the 'home video' had seemed horribly familiar, though she'd had her back turned the entire time. Still… Piper still had the feeling she'd seen her before, even if it was just once in the produce isle at the supermarket.

"Isn't it?" responded Prue with a cold edge. "And I couldn't interfere because he couldn't call me. I had to stand by helplessly as they-- they--" she stopped, choking on tears. Phoebe immediately rose to comfort her sister. Suddenly the door to the apartment flew open and that little boy in question walked in, nine years older and covered from head to toe in blood to the point it was dripping ceaselessly from his now dark scarlet hair. It was even smeared across his face.

Silently, ignoring his guests, the teenager strode past them and went into his room, phazing through the door like a ghost. The ones in the living room stared after him. Blinking, Prue made towards the room, but the door flew open once again, and Paris and a strange young man came in. They, too, had bloodstains on their clothes, but neither as much as Chris.

"Paris, Joden, what…?" Prue began, but found herself unable to finish the sentence. Paris understood.

"Titans," she explained, taking Joden's hand and directing the older boy through the mess that was Chris' apartment. "My God… it was horrible…"

"It was a regular blood bath, alright," murmured Joden, also disturbed. He had mid-length curly auburn hair and gentle greenish blue eyes, and a very calm, casual composure. More or less, he looked like the one everyone got along with and surrounded at parties. But now he was soaked in other people's blood. How nice.

Prue seemed to stare into space for a moment before turning back to Chris' bedroom door. Paris, however, stopped her. "I don't think that's a good idea, Prue. He really needs some alone time. I mean, he's got to deal with the fact that he just lost two hundred and thirty-something innocents. It could take some time."

"Two… hundred and… how many did you manage to save? What happened?"

Paris sighed and Joden looked into the distance. "We saved over fifty, I know," Paris said dejectedly. "But the titans… there were too many… and it takes more than the Power of Three to vanquish just one of them… and while Chris may be good, he can only take so much… we took a jet and caught up with the buses just as they were coming out of the tunnel through Mount Airy. And on the other side there were at least thirty titans waiting for us… I don't know how the Source managed to multiply the original twelve… but he sure as heck did…"

Joden, realizing Paris couldn't say any more, picked up quietly, "We landed in front of the buses and got out. Chris and Duncan took on the titans and me and Paris tried to get the civilians to turn back, but the Source knew we were coming. A battalion of mid and upper level demons was cutting us off and then it got really chaotic. Chris and Duncan were the only two fighting against at least a hundred. André tried to get as many civilians on the jet as she could, but the titans were getting past Chris and Duncan and they… they…" he faltered, voice catching. After a moment he regained his composure enough to continue tightly, "The titans… literally took maces and clubs and… and…" he made a violent gesture with his hand and the others in the room cringed, getting his meaning. "There was so much blood… and screaming… and crying… and the demons just kept coming and the titans just wouldn't stop… and…" Again, the very young man stopped and Paris took his hand. She had regained some of her composure enough to continue in a forced detached voice,

"Joden and I tried to keep the demons away from the ones that couldn't fight. Chris flamed as many out as he could while still trying to keep the titans from-- from slaughtering-- us all, but using so much powerful magic was draining both him and Duncan fast. Then… I think Chris did something… but suddenly the demons and titans just left. We sent André back with the first load of survivors and checked through the bodies for anyone that might still have been alive… there were more-- limbs-- than actual bodies, though… And everyone was dead… so many… and children… and they were smashed…" She stopped, tears in her distanced eyes.

"And then we came back here," ended Joden with a voice that shone with an ironic brightness.

"Oh, God," Prue whispered and went to give the two a hug. After a moment she stood back. "Um… Joden, I don't think you've met my friends here," she added, pulling away. "Joden Nuwitt, meet…" and she introduced them. "Joden is on Chris' FU team, as is Paris, Duncan, and André."

"FU," repeated Paige. She was the only one who could speak after hearing the story. "About that…"

Joden laughed before she could continue, and explained, "Feather Unit. It's just good to have a code word when the Source monitors the radios, especially one he'd believe we'd really say. But we're on FU1, and there are about twenty or so others. Better?"

"Yes, thank you," Paige responded politely, but they were both smiling.

"Okay, just for the record," Prue said, interrupting their lock-of-gazes, "Joden already goes out with Paris, so get your eyes off him missy," she added teasingly.

Paris, Joden, and Paige all rolled their eyes. Phoebe, however, was put out. She'd thought Paris and Chris made a good couple. They definitely had the speaking-with-eyes-only thing down.

"But why Feather Unit?" asked Phoebe. "I mean, what's feathers got to do with anything?"

Joden smiled mysteriously, his pretty eyes twinkling. "Ask me later. It's a long story."

They could hear the shower being turned on from Chris' bathroom.

"So what's the deal with Archwood?" asked Piper. "Why would he send them through there? I mean, if everyone else knows it's guarded…"

"He's heard that it was," Prue replied. "But since Chris was the one that told him, he refuses to believe it."

"Ooo can't wait to see that," said Joden blandly. "Chris is going to kick his ack when he has to tell that man the fight between them killed over two-hundred innocents in the crossfire."

Paris laughed just as blandly. "I don't know what their problem is, but it's gotta stop. This is too much. Chris is never going to forgive himself, or Archwood, either."

Prue grimaced. "You've noticed, too?"

"That Chris takes losing innocents hard?" implied Joden. "I think everyone has, Prue. Let's just hope his past life doesn't come back to kick his ack again." He laughed. "Geez that was hilarious."

"Why do you say ack?" queried Phoebe, who had after one hearing passed it off as a mishearing, but twice…

"Cause Paris will smack me if I cuss in front of her." Paris smacked him in the arm. "You see? She's abusive!" Joden pouted good-naturedly, but everyone else in the room winced. They all knew the real abused one was currently taking a shower in the other room.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Paris and Joden took their leave, saying they needed showers, too. Just after the door shut Chris came in silently. The boy's hair was still wet, but with water this time, and he had changed into very dark, but clean, clothes. He took in all the people and went to a desk still without a word. He picked up a two-way radio and clicked it on and immediately they could hear someone's voice saying, "Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris--- respond--- Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris---"

"Geez, I'm here, shut up already!" Chris said wearily. The voice stopped abruptly and replied, sounding offended,

"Good grief, in a nice mood today aren't ya?"

"Oh, yeah, really, I'm just sunshine and daisies. What do you want?"

"Archwood said be at the briefing room tomorrow at four A.M. Have your team ready at five. Anything you want me to tell him in return?"

"Yeah, tell him I refuse to do the funeral service and he can screw off if he has anything to say about it. Bye, Nancy."

"Chris, you know I can't tell h---" Chris clicked it off. He disappeared for a moment back into his room, but reappeared only minutes later carrying in tow a skateboard and laptop.

Prue watched him for a moment as he made his way cautiously through the mess that was his apartment before voicing, "Chris, sweetheart, you know that report can wait. You really need to rest and recharge your energy. And it can't be emotionally healthy, either."

"Gee, thanks for the psyche evaluation. Now I don't have to go to the therapist this week--- call and cancel the appointment for me, will you?" he bit back sarcastically. Prue made a slight grimacing expression as she made her way after him.

"Aren't you forgetting what day it is?" she pressed in a tone foreboding of hidden meaning and urgency.

"YES! Finally, someone remembered! Thank you, Prue." He actually looked brighter and somewhat relieved. Prue's eyes narrowed. Apparently, he was not quite on the same page.

"Um… I'm talking about last day of the week… you haven't slept in six days… consequences…" She tried to spell it out without giving too much away to the ones from the past. For a moment Chris just looked confused. Then his eyes went wide in understanding, crestfallenness, and hurt.

At last he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The boy dejectedly dropped his skateboard by the door, threw his laptop onto a nearby and walked despondently passed Prue without a word.

He entered his room as he had done previously, leaving Prue perplexed in his wake. "Okay… that was weird," Prue commented at her sisters' querying stares. "What date is this?"

"November 19," replied Piper, finding her voice at last. None of them had been able to speak when the boy had entered the room. It had been as if they were suffocating… knowing that he was the same child they had seen in the video clip. Knowing what his parents had done to him. That knowledge had changed everything when they finally came face-to-face with him.

"November nineteenth…" Prue murmured, thinking hard. "Nope, doesn't ring a bell. I guess he was just being sarcastic."

"What were you talking about?" inquired Paige. "The last day of the week thing?"

"Oh…" said Prue softly, and they could tell she was debating whether to tell them or not. After a span of time that seemed to last forever, the eldest Charmed One made her decision. She smiled wryly. "I'm sorry, guys. He's got to tell you that one. I may want you to understand him, but this one really hits him hard. It's complicated too."

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A/N: Thanx for the reviews again! And see, I told you I'd update today. So, what' cha think? Boring, quite possibly, but they'll really get going on the mission next chappie. So think Joden is cool? I love writing him almost as much as I do Damien (almost…). And I couldn't bring him into this chapter:cries into hands:

Anyway, what's a beta? Why would I need one? Where would I get one? When and how are the only questions I don't have… but I'll get there… pleaz tell me peoples!

Good Witch: yeah, you got it. Chris lived with the Elders before Piper and Leo tried to drown him. He just went back to elder land afterwards for a few week too, cause he wasn't ready to face those evil jerks again for a while. I hope I didn't just confuse you even more…

Lesphinx: yeah, just for you! It cleared some stuff up for others, too, as I found out by the reviews. I had forgotten there was so much left to explain about that, so thanx for asking!

I updated on my birthday--- Beat that J.H.!