Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. I only play in the elaborate field that has been set up by my idols. :Drools over Aaron Spelling:Just kidding. Eeww.:

At long last, Paige's instincts kicked in and she gently pulled Piper into an embrace, allowing her to sob into her shoulder. "It's okay, Piper," she murmured quietly, feeling her heart seeming to become heavier and heavier. All she could do was console Piper… Chris she couldn't, or wouldn't be able, to get to… and she'd left him alone sitting beside the winged shard of his soul. She closed her eyes and continued to rub Piper's back, letting her own emotions weigh themselves down in her subconscious. "It's going to be fine. Come on, sweetie, it hasn't happened yet. We can change it. We can all change it. It'll be better, I promise."

Leo stood nearby, tears in his eyes and he didn't even try to hide them. The other, older Leo was being healed by Gideon. Phoebe was still unconscious on the floor not too far away.

With a distracted sigh, Leo brushed aside the recently shed tear trails and walked over to where Phoebe was, and knelt down to wake her. By the time she was coming around, Piper had regained control of herself, though her eyes and nose were red, and she and Paige made their way over to them, Paige still holding her shoulders supportively.

Leo offered them a weak smile and Phoebe groaned, sitting up. She lifted a hand shakily and held her head in it. "Ugh… what happened?" she croaked, massaging her temples feebly when the hand-on-head got her nowhere.

The other three shared a look before Paige answered, giving her a hand up. "Um… well, the Leo from this time came and Piper kicked his abusive b butt… and I pried her off him basically--"

"Wait, wait, wait," Phoebe interrupted, confusion on her face. "Why would Piper want to kick Leo's butt? What happened?" Then it hit her. The mentioning of Chris' mother when they were talking about the Charmed Ones… then Piper's and Leo's pain that had caused her to pass out again. Her eyes went wide. "Oh my God… you're his parents."

Paige nodded as Piper's face contorted in pain again and she began to cry into Paige's shoulder. Phoebe made an apologetic face when she realized what she'd said. For a moment, there was silence. At length, however, she had to ask, "So where is Leo now? And what about Chris? I can't sense him anymore…"

"Oh… some Elder is healing Leo and Chris is still by… Free Style," Paige responded softly, silently adding 'body' to the end of the sentence. Free Style's body.

Phoebe nodded in acknowledgment, but stopped suddenly. Her eyes went wide yet again. This time, however, she whirled around on the spot in the direction she'd felt a massive wave of fear slam into her from.

"Phoebe, what--?" began Piper in a choked voice, but halted immediately when she looked in that direction as well.

There was the future version of Leo, fully healed and looking furious, towering above his teenaged, horrified, and traumatized youngest son, hissing words-- probably threats-- and continuously advancing on the continuously retreating boy.

For a split second, the ones from the past were too shocked to even move, but when the future Leo grabbed Chris roughly by the arm and jerked him to his feet, they snapped into action.

"Hey!" Piper yelled, ready to kick his butt again. "Let him go!"

The future Leo threw her a look that made them all hate him even more, if it was possible. "You have no right to tell me how to handle my filthy, murdering son, thank you," he said, dangerously soft as he threw Chris another look of daggers.

"The hell I don't," hissed Piper in tones to rival his own. She flicked her fingers at him, using her power to blow him up, but he had probably known her long enough to know what she was going to do, and managed to roughly swap places with Chris. The young halfblood was caught in the crossfire instead.

The force of his father's 'position swap' and the force behind his mother's power combined sent Chris colliding with the ground, supporting a new bloody gash on his shoulder, courtesy of his mother's mistake.

Piper gasped in pure horror at what she'd done. Her knees gave out beneath her and tears filled her eyes yet again. She could vaguely register her sisters trying to say it had been an accident while at the same time they were trying to come up with what to do… Panic and horror were making everything fall apart in their minds. They all thought, deep down yet so near the surface, that this wasn't really happening. Too bad they also knew it was.

As the Charmed Ones and his past self were in their own chaos, the future Leo grabbed Chris again by the arm and wrenched him to his feet. His heart held no sympathy for the terror that lined his son's face. He couldn't see the boy's eyes through the sunglasses, but he didn't care. It was his eyes that he hated the most… Then he felt that hatred he felt when he saw his son's big green eyes begin to flare up within him, and before he could so much as threaten Chris, his hand flew out and struck the boy so hard in the face Chris would have fallen had his father not been gripping his arm so tightly.

Chris didn't cry out, or even make a noise beside a small audible exhalation of breath. He hadn't done more than that for years if he'd only been hit across the face. Leo didn't care. On the contrary, even that thought angered him. Everything about Chris angered him, actually. On that note, he reached out with his free hand and grabbed his son's chin, forcing his face up to look at him… something he hadn't done in a long time. He hated looking at the boy, but now he wanted to hate him enough to kill him, like Chris had killed his wife little more than two years ago.

The man could feel his son instantly begin to try and pull away, but the kid was so scared of him his efforts were little more than faint tugs. But… this time was different. This was the first time they'd come face to face since that night Chris had tried to kill him and had killed Piper. This time Chris getting on in his teenage years-- not the small little kid he'd last seen. But this teen was just as afraid. Or was he…?

Leo could faintly make out another emotion besides fear, even without seeing his eyes. And, sure enough, this time Chris was able to speak, other than plead. In a tiny, soft voice, the son asked, "Why…? Why do you hate m-me so much?"

Leo didn't answer, but felt his hatred deepen. He didn't like Chris questioning him, now that the boy finally had the courage to. With a flush of pure rage, Leo released his hold on Chris' arm and kicked him hard in the stomach, sending the boy crashing to the ground several feet away.

By this time, however, the ones from the past had finally come to their senses, and the future Leo could hear the blonde he knew was his glamoured sister-in-law Paige, demand of her orbing power, "Chris! Earth!"

…

Chris felt himself dissolve in the blue spheres completely by surprise. What had… happened? The entire time with his father again… they had had communication with each other for a few months now, maybe a year, but seeing him in person again… after so long… Chris felt like he was a little kid once more, not a teenager with the power to kick some serious butt, himself. He had had no idea what was going on around them, and suddenly he was being orbed back into the tunnel where he his team was fighting a losing battle.

After he had lost his own battle.

For a few moments at a time, Chris thought he could ignore the pain, the agony that was losing his animal soul mate… and then it would come back in ten fold. Then Leo… seeing his father again… his father hitting him again… His team was losing all around him. It was like Paris dying all over again… He couldn't take this.

He wasn't going to go through more pain. He wasn't going to watch any of them die. He wasn't. He was at wit's end on how to cope with this… but then again, he knew what he was going to do, regardless. He was going to save them like he always would. Like he had the other night when the titans were slaughtering them… when he had actually stopped and asked the Source of all Evil himself to call the attack off. But Wyatt had, if only out of surprise at hearing his brother was there, too…

Chris had sank to his knees long ago… He was on the ground, eyes filled with never-falling tears behind the opaque sunglasses, not quite breathing… at all. His mind was suddenly very blank… but very much there. He knew without thinking what he was doing.

With one last effort, he closed his eyes and summoned the last of what was left of his severely drained power. It wasn't a lot; turning back time had taken so much out of him… But there was some, there was enough. With a cold, empty deliberation, he took a breath, and threw that power out of him in its natural, raw and untamed form. Almost immediately he felt himself falling, slipping out consciousness from the exertion, but not before he knew he had vanquished the ones that were trying to hurt the people he cared about.

Then merciful darkness stole over him, wrapping him in its arms and holding him mercifully tight. He was taken completely by it before he even hit the ground.

…

Leo, Piper, Phoebe, and Paige orbed in only moments later to find the team and Bianca still catching their breath and beginning to nurse wounds. Duncan pulled a wooden stake out of his chest (it had missed his heart), Andre was getting the bandages to wrap the long bloody gash in her leg, Bianca popped her shoulder blade back into place, Paris was wiping the blood from her busted lip and surveying the damage, and Joden was still unconscious.

It didn't take long for any of them to realize Chris had vanquished the Green Pins, therein saving their lives, and with the help of the sisters and Leo, the team found him lying on the floor near the entrance, out cold. Paris was by his side in an instant, looking furious beneath her calm exterior, though. As she lifted his head off the ground and set it in her lap, they could all her hear mutter, "I told you not to fight it, damn it."

Several smiled slightly at that, but didn't say anything. They all wondered, however, what she meant when she'd said she told him not to fight it. Fight what? Her dying? And when had they had that conversation?

Then, at the other end of the room, Joden stirred, groaning. Within next to no time, Bianca was in front of him and throwing him forcefully back against the wall, knife to his throat. When the young man was awake enough to see what she was doing, he looked taken aback, and very uncomfortable.

"Uh… Bianca, as much as I like being this close to a beautiful girl such as yourself, the knife is kind of throwing me off… what's up?"

"What's up?" Paris hissed without moving from where she and Chris were. Her voice carried, nonetheless. "What's up? You shot me is what's up!"

At this, Joden looked completely bemused. "Say what…?"

Paris threw him a foul look, making him cringe, before smiling and shaking her head. "You were possessed and you shot me. Chris had to rewind time to save me-- yeah, I died," she added at his confused look. Apparently after being possessed then knocked out makes one somewhat slower than usual. Paris didn't seem to mind, however. She merely continued to stroke Chris' hair and smile to herself. The girl honestly wasn't holding a grudge against her own killer…

After a moment of silence Bianca sighed and stood, sheathing her knife at her side. She offered Joden a hand up and he accepted warily. Then there was silence again.

Never before had they realized how much Chris guided them, even when he was silent. Now he was unconscious and it didn't look as though he would be coming around any time soon. There was still more silence.

After a length, Piper broke it. "Um… why don't we get what we came for and just orb back to the jet?"

"The Source can track orbing," replied Bianca blandly. "But I'll shimmer us. What did the things look like?" She walked along the shelves that remained in tack, looking back to someone, anyone, for an answer. Leo went to join her and picked out the one the Elders wanted. Joden shook his head as though to clear it, then focused his vision and pointed to one to her left. She picked it up.

It was in the shape of a sphere, about as large as a softball, but was translucent and powered blue. It had a spinning gold bar that went across the top and was currently making a faint whirring sound. The one Leo had gotten merely looked like an opaque, red hourglass.

With this accomplished, Bianca made her way back to them. She knelt down and took Paris' and Chris' hands, instructing, "Everyone take hands… And here we go…"

There was a moment when they felt like they had suddenly become fuzzy and smushed around their sides, then the compaction moved inwards, and before they knew it they were standing next to the jet again. Phoebe immediately released Piper's hand, who in turn let go of Paris', and wobbled over to the nearest boulder and sat down. She looked queasy. Bianca gave her a wry smile, before turning her attention to the jet.

"Anyone know how to fly it?" she asked curiously.

Paris glanced up, still sitting at Chris' side. "Nope, but Chris sets the autopilot pretty often, so there should be a button or something to turn it on. Could you, like, shimmer us in the jet instead of beside it?"

Bianca blushed, but they all took hands again and she shimmered them inside the passenger haul. Still looking like a scolded little girl, she disappeared into the pilot's cabin. There was silence for a few moments and Paris and Paige together lifted Chris onto the long seat at the side of the room. He was so light Paige figured she could have lifted him by herself without even breaking a sweat. Paris didn't seem as surprised, though, but no less grim.

Not much later, as they were all taking seats (Piper and Leo deliberately as far away from their unconscious son as possible, too afraid to get near enough to hurt him), the engine started and they lifted off. When it leveled itself again and Bianca came back into their little space, Paris stood as well and went to sit next to Joden. He took her hand wordlessly and offered a slight wry smile. Paris smiled back, though her expression was once more serene.

There wasn't any speaking for hours. They had long since crossed back over the Atlantic Ocean when there was suddenly a shrill beeping from the pilot's cabin. They all started from their dazed states and Bianca hurried to check it out, leaving the door open so they could see what was going on, too. She peered over the panel of strange knobs, buttons, and lights with an anxious expression before calling over her shoulder, "We're almost out of gas!" She whirled back around to face them. "What do we do?"

Joden climbed to his feet reluctantly and joined her. Without a word, he began tapping buttons, pulling up a screen on the windshield and leafing through it by twisting a knob. At their querying looks, he answered dismissively, "I'm checking for alternate routes programmed on autopilot that are near here. I can't really tell what they are, though… he labels them all weird."

"Or maybe you just can't read his handwriting," said Chris groggily, surprising everyone. They turned to see him sitting up and looking like he had a serious migraine. He smiled weakly. "Morning, campers."

"Chris!" Paris said brightly, looking remarkably relieved, but suddenly even more concerned. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Chris shook his head as he got to his feet, still looking somewhat dazed. "Ask me that when this is all over." Ignoring several voices of protest that he should sit back down and rest, he walked to the front and wordlessly ushered Joden and Bianca out of his cabin. He practically fell into the cushiony chair before asking, voice hollow, "Where are we, exactly?"

"Uh… we just passed Detroit, Michigan a few minutes ago," supplied Joden, taking his seat next to an alert Paris.

"Michigan…" repeated Chris thoughtfully, tiredly. He checked the gas meter again and let a slight sigh escape. "We've got enough…"

"Enough for what?" asked Paris. Then, "Hey-- isn't this where Paige and Phoebe set up that shelter for innocents?"

Chris' looked even more depressed and shut the door, not bothering to answer. The company turned to Paris, all waiting for an explanation. The girl looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or groan. After a while, she managed without much expression, "Two of the Charmed Ones set up a safe house of sorts for innocents that can't defend themselves in this sort of war. He… they… Paige and Phoebe and Chris don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. And then there's all the uncomfortable silences that we have to map into the equation, too…"

The team, besides Paris, had no idea of Chris' relations. They were all startled, and amazed to find out when they landed that he so much as knew two of the infamous Charmed Ones. He reminded them, in a sarcastic way of course, that Prue just happened to be one as well. They were even more surprised when Paige (the future version) came out to meet them personally, upon receiving their message, and immediately threw her arms around him, on the verge of tears.

Chris jerked out of the embrace on pure reflex, but neither picked it up again when he had 'mellowed out.' It was the first awkward silence they had been warned of. After a moment, he introduced his team and the Charmed Ones and Leo under their aliases. When Paige met her future self's eyes as they were shaking hands, all four knew their cover was blown.

"Naomi," the woman of the future repeated, a mischievous smile playing on her lips. "Nice to meet you. Prue's told me so much about you and your friends, of course. So… how 'bout we walk together and Chris can lead the way inside. You remember the way, don't you?" she added to him, somewhat uncomfortably. It wasn't unnoticed by anyone.

They were positive Chris was giving her a look behind his sunglasses. Instead of making a sarcastic reply they could all feel coming, he merely shook his head and led the way inside the building that might have once been a college, but was now a safe house for though caught involuntarily in the middle of the war. Paige's self allowed a bit of distance to come between them and the FU team (and Bianca) before demanding the story, her eyes mostly falling on Piper and Leo.

Paige noticed and hastily explained that they were from a past where Chris hadn't been born yet. She told her(self) that the twenty-two year old Chris had come back from the future, and that he'd been taken by his fiancée (she didn't say it was Bianca) and that they were waiting for him to find them, like he'd said he would. She threw in the part that they were getting something for the Elders as an afterthought.

All the while, the older woman listened attentively, nodding in appropriate places and not interrupting. At the end, she asked in a low voice, "So, what's got him so stressed out? If he doesn't know it's really you…"

There was silence as the ones from the past shared grave looks. Then Phoebe explained what had happened Up There. At this story, Paige exclaimed, "WHAT?" in several spots, and when Phoebe came to the part about Leo, the currently oldest sister's face completely fell, and her eyes turned sad. She swallowed hard and looked away.

"So you know about… about his childhood, already, then?"

They nodded less than enthusiastically. There was silence. They glanced up to see that the team with the addition of Bianca had outstripped them, and were nowhere in sight. There was more silence as they continued walking.

At length, the Paige of the future sighed. "Alright, you've had a long day. I'll show you to some dorms-- or rooms, whatever you want to call them. Just dial zero on the phone in there for our room service."

…

Piper couldn't sleep. Phoebe, Paige, Leo and herself had stayed up watching some futuristic TV show and eating pizza in silence before finally calling it quits. None of them had ventured to suggest they go see Chris or even the future Phoebe or Paige again. Now she lay in her own bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering what the hell had caused her to screw up so bad and abuse her child. Her eyes seemed to be constantly flowing tears, now that the shock had worn off and she was coming to terms with everything… if it was possible to ever come to terms with such things.

Time passed but sleep wouldn't come. At two o'clock, she finally sighed and got out of bed, wrapping a blanket around herself as she did so. She made her way silently and with a heavy heart to the door and slipped out, walking down the deserted, dark corridors with no idea or care about where she was going. But… something about hallway leading out onto a balcony called to her, and she obeyed.

Just as she felt the first lick of cool wind brush her hair, she could make out a figure standing there, leaning against the balcony silently and watching something through the darkness. Piper didn't feel threatened by it at all; on the contrary, she had a strange sensation she knew who it was, so she made her way towards it.

It was Prue.

"Hey," her older sister smiled sadly, blue-grey eyes glittering. In the moonlight, her unfamiliar wrinkles stood out, proof to the stress she'd been under since she'd died. "What's up, sweetie?"

Piper stood beside her, looking out into the night. They were several stories up, the castle-like roof right beside them. In the distance, waves broke against the shore of a lake; pine trees rustled mysteriously, hiding the lone owl within their midst. The railing of the balcony was cool stone, carved in gentle swirling patterns. It was a serene night, and it seemed to calm her.

"We know Chris is my son," she whispered, but this time the tears were stopping instead of getting harder. 'We saw Leo and we heard what we did to him from our own mouths. We saw parts of his life…"

She stopped, closing her eyes. She felt Prue come closer and take her hand gently. For that one moment, Piper wanted time to freeze… everywhere. Everything. She wanted her big sister to stay right beside her forever, with her soft support, her reassuring presence. She didn't want to have to go back to her own time and torture her small son all the way into his teenage years. She didn't want to live in that time where this big sister hated her for it. She just wanted Prue to be like she used to be-- alive and always there for her and Phoebe, handling things they couldn't, protecting them from bullies and demons alike.

Piper leaned into her, cherishing the first hug she'd felt from her sister in years. "Prue," she whispered. "Why did you die? You left us so alone… so alone, and we can't… God, we miss you so much. I miss you so much…"

Prue hugged her back harder, never wanting to let go, either. Tears were in her eyes as she whispered, "I know, honey. I know…"

Neither knew how long they stood there in the night, just embracing and missing each other. Missing how things used to be. Neither wanted it to end and them have to come back and face reality. But it did end, and they did pull apart.

Prue sighed, looking out across the rooftops of the towers at what she'd been watching before meeting her sister. Piper looked out as well, and saw two figures actually sitting up there, talking quietly. She turned back to Prue, questioning, "Who are they?"

Prue smiled softly. "That's Dad and Chris."

Piper's confusion increased, but after a moment her face just became tired. "Prue… I want you to tell me everything. No leaving out names or reasons or anything. Just… tell me about Chris… and Wyatt and Jessica, too… And Damien. I… I want to know."

Prue watched her younger sister for a moment, then looked out at Chris and Victor. "Alright, Piper," she whispered, a sad smile tilting her lips. "I guess I'll start with why you gave him up to the Elders when he was born…"

A/N: Hey everybody! Thankyou for all of the wonderful reviews! I really 'adore' the support (someone challenged me to use the nasty word 'adore' today, so wha-la)! Hope you guys liked this chapter and will review!

PS: More of Chris and Damien in the future chapters... I think. I may just let how he reunites with the Charmed Ones and Leo again in the '16 year old' time period be a mystery... But I love Damien so much... Grr. Need help deciding... Please?

PPS: I am NEVER going to leave this story, like, unfinished. Just so you know, you can have a little faith in that. It may be taking longer to write them and whatnot, but I won't stop until it's finished. Thankyou. :Takes a bow: