A Charmed Story - Part Five:
20 weddings and a funeral?
Chapter 2

Victor and Cole had spent the whole morning playing, and now they were on their way to the home of the latter one, who had invited his new friend to have a coffee there. Because of the events around Chris's marriage, they had become really good friends, but due to the fact that Victor had his permanent residence in Los Angeles, they wouldn't have many occasions to meet.
However, Victor had insisted on him going and paying him a visit as soon as possible, until finally, Leo himself had decided to orb him to LA. And that was the day they were spending together, talking and laughing and getting to know each other better, with some short interruptions from little Wyatt.
Victor was sweating. Golf wasn't a sport of action, but the day had been hot. He tried to excuse himself: "I'm old now, Cole... I'm starting to feel that."
Cole smirked at him, and then laughed: "You're old? Come on... You are not half the old as I am! And..." Tiredly he added: "I also feel it."
Victor cast a glimpse at him but then kept his sight on the road: "Are you kidding?"
"No, I'm not... I'm... some centuries old, two, perhaps."
Victor blushed: "Oh..." Yeah, he had forgotten his past as a demon: "Yes, but that's cheating. That doesn't count!" He smiled.
Cole grinned back at him: "I wish it wouldn't. You know... Chris has tons of memories of the different futures he had to live, and all... I have an endless past, memories of multiple deaths and murders, and sad stories at my back..."
Victor secretly freaked out at hearing that, but he realised the man was opening his heart, so he tried to pretend that he was fine, and went on listening.
"Chris tells me everything... about him, his future and all. But I never told him my own stories. Because I'm the uncle, he's the one who needs talking. That wouldn't have helped him..."
Victor frowned: "But all those things are past, they don't matter anymore." He felt something weird... Cole was saying that he had to play the paternal role with Chris... and right now, it was him, Victor, that was playing that paternal role with Cole! He had just realised what was going on. Cole was alone. He had been alone for a long time. He had Chris, Leo, the sisters... But not his father. He never really had a father. Or he had even forgotten him... And perhaps, only perhaps, now he was talking to Victor the way he'd have talked to his father.
Cole sighed: "Yeah... They don't. They don't matter for them, for Phoebe... But they're there. That's why, I guess, I understand Chris so well. We've got some... memories, which belong only to us and make us startle at night covered with sweat. Those memories are ours... and only ours, we want it or not."
Victor nodded. "I understand..." he said gravely. But he didn't. It was unconceivable. Memories from the future, for Chris... Memories from two centuries ago for Cole. That was crazy! He didn't notice Cole's look fixed on him.
"I'm sorry... I didn't want to press you or make you feel bad, it's only that..."
Victor smiled: "Hey, you can talk to me, son... whenever you like. I'm gonna be your father, some day..." They were arriving. Victor started to park the car. "Well..." he added then, looking Cole in the eyes, "as long as you... make a decision." And then he winked, as he opened the door.
Cole smiled. Then he did the same, and both men crossed the entrance to Victor's house.

°°°°°°°°°°

The girl had listened to Piper with a mixture of fear and excitement. After Leo was gone to talk to the other Elders, the witch had explained everything to her, while Phoebe had prepared a tea.
"And I thought my life was strange," she muttered after Piper had finished.
"So... here is something to drink for you," Phoebe said while entering the room with a cup of hot tea, "it'll calm you down a little."
"Thanks," the girl said with a sad smile. She was sort of glad, that she had found some magical people who really seemed to want to help her. Again a few tears found their way down her cheeks. Phoebe gave her a hanky.
"Are there more like you?" Piper asked after she had wiped her tears away and drunk a little.
"I'm not sure... there are more holograms, a few of them are like me, but not all, I think."
Phoebe nodded: "And your groom?"
"He's there, too," she answered, "but I saw him only a few times, very shortly"
At that moment Paige returned. She orbed next to the sisters and then looked at the girl bewildered. The witch had seen a lot in her life... but this was something new.
"What's wrong?" Piper asked as she noticed her look.
Paige sighed: "There's in fact a girl missing named Jassica Daniels, but..."
"But what?" the sister asked.
"She was born in 1966, and has been missed since 1985."
"What?" Phoebe and Piper exclaimed at the same time.
"That's true," the girl said, "my brithday is September 12th... so..."
She looked into the freaked eyes of her hosts. Then, she looked around noticing that everything seemed to be a little strange. Slowly she turned to the sisters again: "Wait... What date is it?"

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo had orbed to the Elder council. He had explained them what had happend down in the manor.
"And how exactly did this hologram become half-human again?" Jeremiah asked. He was one of those Elders who were not very happy, that Chris was one of them.
Leo hesitated for a moment. "I don't know how that was possible," he answered then.
The Elder who had asked, nodded. But Odin frowned.
"Have you ever heard of something like that before?" Leo asked again.
The others shook their heads or simply said nothing. Leo sighed.
"There was something," then, one of them suddenly said. A man with grey hair but a face like a child, named Rolger. The others turned to him and he explained: "about 20 years ago, there was a time when a lot of couples disappeared right before their marriage. We could never find out what happened to them." Some of the others nodded.
"Twenty years?" Leo asked. Rolger nodded.
Leo raised his eyebrows: "Alright, thanks for your help... I think I should tell that to the charmed ones. Thanks."
He nodded and gestured to say goodbye, and then he orbed away.

°°°°°°°°°°

When Leo rematerialised he wasn't at the manor. He was standing on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. 'What the hell...' he tought and turned around surprised.
Suddenly there were again bluish orbing lights when Odin appeared.
"Odin, why did you bring me...?"
But the Elder interrupted him: "Who has done it, Leo?"
"What?"
"You know what I mean... Was it your son?"
Leo shrugged, feeling uncomfortable: "I really don't see your point, Odin. Who cares how she became that ghost-like human... She's there."
"I care... 'Cause doing something like what you have described needs a lot of power... maybe more than we have." He made a little break, observing every expression in Leo's face.
Leo sighed: "If you think that Wyatt is..."
But Odin interrupted him: "Nobody is talking about Wyatt... I mean your other son! He's an Elder with all his powers... AND he's a witch; he's still a witch... So, if he had done this he..."
"NO!" Leo exclaimed loud to stop him. Then he went on with a much calmer voice: "He didn't do that." He couldn't let the Elders begin to distrust his son. At least, he was one of them. And anyway, that wasn't a lie. It hadn't been Chris.
Odin sighed: "And who did it, Leo?"
Leo held his look even though he wanted to lower his eyes. Odin's expression was grave, and worried at the same time. All of a sudden, and before Leo managed to answer his question, another jingling sound followed by a voice sounded behind him.
"It's ok Leo... He knows. I told him everything."
Leo turned surprised at the intruder, and found himself facing Silas, another Elder... This made Leo's heart jump out of fear and distress. "What... what do you mean?" he asked.
"Don't blame him, he had to tell me..." Odin intervened, making Leo look at him, "maybe you both were able to cloak Gideon's death under your lies... But I'm not a fool. I always knew there was something wrong in your story..."
Leo turned paler and stared at Silas. He had prayed all that time since the moment it had happened that Silas was able to keep his secret. He was the other Elder that had accompanied Gideon when he tried to kill Wyatt. He was the Elder, the only Elder, that saw how Chris stabbed Gideon unmercifully... But he had said his secret was safe with him.
Silas lowered his eyes: "He asked me..."
"When did you get to know that..."
Odin smiled: "Since that very same day..." he answered.
"So... that's why you were first against him when he wanted to take care of magic school, and also why you despise him so much. Always saying he's so young and all, and opposing his wedding with Bianca..." Leo knew that Odin had finally supported them, but all this was the only thing he could keep in mind at that moment.
"Leo... I kept the secret as well as Silas. I only needed to know, because I couldn't believe that a demon had killed Gideon... Let alone Barbas. A demon wouldn't have proceeded like that, and Chris himself, all his story, getting stuck in the past... he was behaving in a very weird way after that event. Leo... You have to understand... Gideon did wrong as an Elder, trying to kill an innocent child. But you, better than anyone, know that an Elder shouldn't kill at all... Our powers aren't for that. Chris is an Elder by accident, and he has killed another Elder."
Leo clenched his fists, angrily: "He killed the murderer of my son... He had to go through a lot and he deserves a little bit of respect! He never did a wrong thing, anymore. You know that..."
Silas was listening to them in silence, ashamed of having betrayed the trust Leo had put on him.
"And that's why I didn't let out your secret, Leo," Odin answered, gravely. "I have even learnt to love that boy... But understand this; I had to keep an eye on him, all the time. Because he's got too much power; and he has killed. He can do that again."
"He won't," Leo said in a rough tone, "and this is not about having killed anyone, if I'm right. This is about having brought someone into life, somehow. So there's no point in all this."
Odin sighed: "This is not about killing or not, Leo... This is about power, and you know it. Gideon did wrong things, but he was right in something: Too much power in one's hands is dangerous... What has happened now is out of our reach. If Chris discovers all that power and uses it for wrong..."
Leo interrupted him again: "He won't. And as I said before, he didn't do this." He fixed his look on Odin's, and then he orbed away, not before glaring at Silas and saying: "Thanks... friend."

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris was shivering, soaked from head to feet. Bianca couldn't stop laughing at his sight, and gave him her jacket. She was wet too, but far from looking like Chris.
"This is not funny, Bianca..."
She laughed even louder: "Chris, honey... I told you that you wouldn't get so wet in the boat..."
"Yeah... And you were right! But you could have warned me that on THAT bridge," and hepointed to the wooden bridge in front of the boats' ride, "I would get soaked as a fish!"
Bianca laughed but hugged him. He was so cute when he was angry about that kind of things!
"Come on sweety... Let's go to some terrace and have a coffe, the sun will help to dry this... It's hot, man!"
Chris smiled with sarcasm: "Ok... as the princess orders. But then we should go to that show about the alien... It must be really spooky, with that alien inside..."
"Oh..." Bianca frowned. "You mean the extraterrestrial stuff? That show in which you're supposed to be in a starship, and suddenly the alien gets free?"
"Yeah, I guess that's it. It sounds cool!"
Bianca nodded, but was pensive: "Chris... that alien is a hologram, did you know that?"
Chris looked her in the eyes, not knowing what to think. Then he shook his head: "Do you think that could happen again?"
"I don't know," she muttered.
Chris frowned: "Do you think that we did something? That we're responsible for that?"
Bianca didn't know what to answer. It was just a feeling she had, when he talked about those Alien-Adventure. She was afraid about what could happen if some of them came to life. So she nodded weakly.
Chris sighed and hugged her. He knew that her emotions had been kind of unstable in the last weeks. Everyone told him that it was because of her pregnancy, but he feared that there was more.
"But how should we?" he asked then.
She sobbed a little. "I don't know," she whipsiered, "but..."
"But what?" Chris asked, looking her in her eyes. They seemed to be sadder then ever before. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Chris asked again, now really worried.
Bianca turned around; she wasn't able to stand his look. She didn't want him to worry.
"Oh God, sweetie..." Chris was desperate; he had never seen her like that before, "please... tell me what's bothering you? Please... I love you so much, I can't see you suffer that way..."
Bianca felt terrible. She didn't want to hurt him. But she also knew that this couldn't go on that way. She loved him so much, she thought that when they were married she could get over this... But she couldn't. It still crossed her mind form time to time, like in this moment, too.
Slowly she turned around again, with tears in her eyes. Chris looked at her questioning.
"I love you honey, but... I'm also afraid," she whispered.
"Afraid? Of what?" he asked.
"Of you..." she answered.
Chris was shocked. Within a second his great new world was broken into pieces. "What?" he asked, hoping he was dreaming.
"Honey, I'm so sorry," she whispered aproaching him.
Chris sat down completly lost and still shivering because of his wet clothes. He was shaking his head: "I don't understand that... Why?"
Bianca sat down next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder: "I can't explain it... I know you're good... but..." She made a break, seeking for the right words. "You have so much power now... I'm afraid that you could lose yourself one day... That you could become like..."
She didn't have to end this sentence. Chris knew what she was thinking about. He swallowed. He hadn't noticed that all this could be a problem for her. He never wanted to have those Elder-powers. And... he knew how dangerous they could be. He would never forget that moment in which he had been on the way to kill his brother. That second was burned into his mind, and it would always and forever remind him of the danger. Chris knew that he hadn't discovered his new poweres completeley by now... But he was sure he would never end up like Wyatt did in his timeline... He had seen the results of all that... He knew where that way led to... And he would never go down that road, never!
He sighed again: "Bianca I swear to you, by my life: I will never be like him, never!" She smiled a little. "And do you know why?" he asked. She shook her head. "Because of you," he explained, "because you love me so much, as much as I love you. And because of our little girl, which should have a wonderful life and a good daddy..."
Bianca smiled, but still crying, because of positive emotions now. "She has him" she whispered. She believed him, she believed in him, she always did. Maybe she just needed him to remind her of that.
Chris swallowed again. He wasn't able to see her cry, so a few tears ran over his face, too. He hugged her, and then kissed her.
"Don't do that again," he whipspered then, "next time you talk to me, alright...? About whatever." Bianca nodded.

°°°°°°°°°°

Jessica was staring into the nothingness. '2004... February 21th... 19 years!' she thought, but she couldn't believe it.
Phoebe felt her confusion. She sat down next to the girl and hugged her.
"We'll find out what happend, and where your husband is now," Paige said.
At that moment Leo returned.
"Hey, why did it take so long?" Piper asked.
But Leo didn't answer. "The Elders said that about twenty years ago a lot of innocents dissappered, all couples on their way to get married... The Elders have never been able to find out why, or who was responsible for that. So it's seems this is starting again, and..."
"Not really," Paige interrupted him.
"What?" the Elder asked confused. But actually he was more confused about his discussion with Odin, than about Paige's words.
"Darryl found her file, she's been missing since 1985," the witch explained shortly.
The girl began to cry again.
"Oh, come on, sweety..." Phoebe said, stroking the girl's hair, "we're gonna help you, and you're safe here... Just try to calm down."
Piper and Paige turned to Leo and frowned. "Hey! Are you alright, man? You seem worried."
Leo shook his head as if he could shake his thoughts away with that movement: "I'm fine. Don't worry. It's just that this is really weird... I don't know if a demon did this, or if it was another creature, or what... And then, I'm worried about the way she described her... change." Then he added, only to be heard by the two sisters: "The Elders themselves cannot do this, WE cannot do this."
Piper stared at him, and perceived his distress. After all, he was her husband. "I think I'm going to check up the book of Shadows, maybe there's something on it."
Leo and the sisters nodded: "Ok..."
Phoebe decided to go with Piper, so that she could get rid of Jessica's feelings, which were killing her. At this point, it was Paige that took Phoebe's place by the bride, as Leo stood in front of them, thoughtful.
"Well, this might take us some time, you know? So I was thinking that... perhaps, you'd like to change your clothes. What about trying some of my shirts on?" she winked.
The girl smiled weakly, and shrugged: "I suppose I can not go around with this dress."
"Then, give me your hand. You're gonna orb now for the first time in your life... Oooops, second, I guess you did before, with Chris and Bianca..."
Leo smiled, too. "I... I think I'll stay with Wyatt, and wait for some information to come..." he said at the same time the two girls disappeared in the middle of their bluish orbs. Then he sighed and looked at the boy, who was quietly observing the scene from the playpen.
"Hey, buddy... Come here," he took him on his arms, and sat down on the sofa, "with daddy... Do you like the girl, huh?" He grinned at the sound of his son's giggling. "Hey... everything's ok, isn't it Wyatt...? You would know, your adult self... He hasn't come back, so... Chris is fine in the future, isn't he?"
Wyatt chuckled and babbled some incoherent words. "Chlis..." he said. He was learning to pronounce the name better, even though the 'r' in the middle was quite difficult for him.
"Yeah..." Leo laughed, "Chris..." He wished that he could talk to adult Wyatt and know things about the future... But he knew that was completely out of place.
So they would try to find a way in the present, and first of all, they had to help Jessica, and find the other couples, whose cases were probably related to hers.

°°°°°°°°°°

"Holograms, holograms..." Piper was flicking through the pages of the book, but there was nothing like that.
Ok... The book was old. She understood that in the Middle Ages, even in the 19th century, there was nothing like holograms. So the book wouldn't have anything related. Not even Grams would have written about that. But just in case...
"I think this is a signal," said Phoebe.
"Huh?" Piper murmured, still focusing on the book.
"All this, Piper... First, Chris and Bianca's marriage, then my column, invaded by husband-and-wife-to-be readers, and my own obsession with the word 'MARRY'. There's 'marriage written everywhere, I hear that word wherever I go, like... like an inside voice, Piper!"
Her sister looked at her as if she had gone nuts: "Phoebe... Focus, please."
"No, Piper... My powers have taught me not to ignore anything, understand? My inside voices... they must have some meaning! And well, I think it's quite clear now that we have to solve a case about lost couples about to marry, and all... What I said, marriage, marriage... everywhere!"
"Phoebe, honey... Your obsession has nothing to do with your powers. You hear that word because you want to! And I get it... I understand..." she smiled: "I'm not an empath, but I'm your sister..."
Phoebe frowned: "No, it's not what you..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... well, if it's not, ok, forget it and focus. And if it is... you can talk to me, sweetheart. But later. Now, Jessica needs our help!"

°°°°°°°°°°

"So..." Jessica was talking quietly as she looked at herself on the mirror, "the boy that was with that girl, those of the golden light... is an Elder too... But he's sooo young!"
She frowned, and Paige had to chuckle.
"Yeah, well, that's like a sort of title."
Jessica turned around, staring at her on the mirror, and nodded slowly: "And she, a Phoenix... You girls said that she was a different kind of witch..."
Paige nodded: "You're really beautiful in that shirt."
Jessica grinned, her eyes were still red but she was starting to feel better.
"Thanks..." then she frowned, "but they both... They looked like... a couple of just married."
Paige nodded, smiling: "Yes, they are."
Then, the girl looked in her eyes: "I miss him..."

°°°°°°°°°°

"Nothing!" Piper closed the book with a loud noise. Phoebe sighed. For a moment her older sister stood in front of her frowning. "Alright," she said then, grasped Phoebe's arm and pulled her down the stairs. She knocked on Paige's door.
"Come in," her sister called from inside.
They entered and Paige asked: "Did you find something?"
Piper shook her head: "It seems we have to do it in the old way. Paige, please orb to Darryl again and ask him for all the files from all the missed couples... And then we're going to play detectives on our own..."
Paige nodded and orbed away.
Then the sisters looked at Jessica. She was standing in front of the mirror. Her skin had become a little more visible minute by minute. Now, dressed with a shirt and jeans from Paige, she was looking like a normal human.
Suddenly there was something else in this room. Something like a shadow.
"What's that?" Phoebe asked.
Jessica started to panic, when that thing was flying around her.
"Ok, girl, come over here," Piper exclaimed.
Jessica ran over to her and the witch embraced her. Then the shadow was away.
"What was that?" Phoebe asked again.
Piper frowned: "I don't know."

(Chapter 2 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)