Disclaimer: I own nothing. Charmed and all its characters belong to their respective owners.

BEHIND THE BOOK COVER

Zeke Daemon had been raised to be evil.

Somehow though, he hadn't ended up that way.

Somehow, he'd ended up good.

He wasn't quite sure how.

His mother never knew his father was a demon. After his birth, his own father had killed her, quick and carelessly. From a young age, Zeke had been taught to kill, to hunt, to strategize. However, the humanity in him always prevented him from intentionally causing harm to others. His father had tried and failed to implant evil in him, and so Zeke was a failure.

Deciding that his only son was worthless, Zeke's father planned to kill him. However, while Zeke had refused to harm others, that didn't mean he hadn't paid attention and taken note of everything he'd been taught. His father's efforts in making a powerful demon out of him would backfire badly on him.

When the day came, his supposed-to-be death day, it was not Zeke who was killed, but his father. When the attack came, Zeke had fought back with a harsh determination, for he had no qualms about vanquishing demons. He'd quickly gained the upper hand and had watched, satisfied, as his father screamed in pain, before there was a blinding light and he was gone.

Of course, that left Zeke alone in the world. He had no friends to speak of, and no family he knew of. So he began hunting. Hunting for his family. With his mother being mortal, he'd succeeded in finding records of her, and from there, been able to trace back through centuries of his family. But it seemed she had been the last of her line to be alive. And so he'd turned to his father's side.

He had been able to find records, much to his surprise. His father had been born to two demons- Elizabeth Turner and another whose name he could not find- and he had a half brother who was half human. That half demon, half human was Cole Turner, better known in the magical communities as Belthazor.

From trips to the underworld, spying on demons, Zeke had found out that Belthazor had been sent by the Triad to kill the Charmed Ones, but had fallen in love with one of them. He'd been defeated and vanquished and so many times, Zeke could hardly get his head round it all, but from what he could gather, his uncle was now well and truly gone.

The last of Zeke's hope was gone.

With no real purpose in life, he had lingered in the underworld, no longer particularly caring whether he was seen or not, whether he was killed or not. But that all changed the day he met a certain green-eyed, brown-haired, teenage boy seeking revenge.

Chris was fourteen. One month ago, he'd held his mother as she died in his arms. In those moments, as she slipped away, Chris had realised he was losing the only person in the world who cared for him other than Wyatt and Victor. Leo didn't care for Chris, never had and never would. Phoebe had been killed a year or so before Piper, along with her husband, Jason, and their only daughter, Prudence. Just like that, Chris lost the only aunt he'd ever known, and his only cousin. He never lost his father because he never had him in the first place.

Now…

Now he was going to lose his mother.

Ever since that fateful day, Chris had been seeking revenge. With Wyatt, he had already eliminated the demons who killed his mother. But it wasn't enough. Chris wanted, needed, to prevent any more of his family meeting that same fate. He directed all his anger and pain towards those demons, vanquishing the next one more ferociously and determinedly than the last. His brother and grandfather had both chided him for his recklessness, but Chris didn't care. They didn't understand. He needed to do this.

It would have been obvious to anyone that Chris was full of anguish and hatred, and he wasn't healing.

That was, until the day he came across a certain half demon who helped put the broken pieces of his heart back together.

Chris had, once again, been in the underworld. After eliminating a group of demons, a boy who looked to be about his age had stepped out from around the corner. The boy did not attack; he simply stood there, watching him. Chris began to feel uncomfortable. He couldn't understand this. If the boy was a demon, which he doubted, then why had he not attacked? If he wasn't a demon, what was he doing in the underworld.

"What are you?" he finally asked.

"I'm Zeke," the boy replied. "Half demon, half human. Don't worry. I don't attack any being other than demons or warlocks. Who are you?"

"Chris Halliwell. Half whitelighter, half witch, and if you don't attack good beings, why are you in the underworld?"

"It's… a long story."

"I have time."

Zeke smiled, a genuine smile, for the first time in years.

Zeke had been drawn to Chris. After he'd told him how he came to be in the underworld, Chris had explained what had happened to him. They could both understand having a father who hated them, and a mother who should not have died so soon.

"Zeke, if you have nowhere else to go, you can always come with me," Chris offered.

"Thank you. But your brother and grandfather probably won't trust me."

"I trust you and they trust me. You'll be fine," Chris reassured him.

Chris orbed with Zeke back to the manor, hoping his brother would be receptive to the half demon he'd brought along. Victor, he knew, would be fine with it. If Chris trusted him, so would Victor. It was Wyatt who was the problem.

Sure enough, Wyatt held lots of animosity towards Zeke.

"Chris, who is this?" he asked, in a dangerous tone.

"Zeke. He's half demon, half human," Chris replied, not afraid of his brother.

"Chris, we do not take in half demons."

"You may not, but unlike you, dear Wyatt, I still have a heart."

Wyatt's eyes darkened. "What exactly are you implying, Chris?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm saying it. You've changed. In fact, maybe you didn't change. Maybe you were always this way. I don't know. All I know, is that it's only been recently that I've noticed this. Wyatt, you were happy to let demons kill innocents if they refused to follow you!"

"Chris, times are changing. The magical community need a strong leader. As the heir to Excalibur, that leader is me."

"So you're willing to kill anyone blocking your path to leading the magic community? You're willing to kill me if I stand against you?"

"Chris, I won't hurt you. I can't. You will stand beside me. And this- this thing you brought to our home, is weak. He must go."

Zeke recoiled at those words. He'd been called many things: weak, a failure, hopeless. But never had he been called a thing. A meaningless, worthless thing that didn't even deserve a name. Even his father had treated him better than that.

"No. I will not stand with you," Chris sighed. "What happened to you, Wyatt?"

"Things changed."

"And now you condone unwarranted violence and death?"

"It's not that simple, Chris!"

Shaking his head, Chris turned away. "Damn right it isn't," he quietly said.

Leo orbed Up There and looked around, stunned. Only recently, Paige had visited the Elders and spoken with them. She was lucky to still be alive, and must have left just before the Titans arrived.

For everywhere Leo looked, he saw death. Elders, lying cold and motionless. Elders with blank eyes that held no light. Elders that had the life taken from them.

Devastated, the whitelighter fell to his knees, hardly able to comprehend such a thing happening. But it had happened, and now, there was nothing he could do to help.

"You knew the Titans were after the Elders, didn't you?" Phoebe said to Chris and Zeke. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"We told you. There's some things we can't tell you."

"How would not telling us the Elders are in danger help in any way?!"

Before either boy could reply, Piper walked in. "Leo has not answered any of my calls and it's been five hours!" She looked at Chris. "You're a whitelighter! Go! Make sure he's okay!"

"Piper, if what happened in my future has happened here, Leo is gonna need some serious alone time."

"Okay cut it with the cryptic crap. Either you bring Leo back here or I blow both your asses to the future, orbs and all!"

"Okay, okay. I'll go."

Chris appeared Up There in a swirl of orbs, and immediately saw Leo, slumped next to a dead Elder.

"Leo."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let this happen?" Leo growled.

"Because this had to happen!" Chris shouted. "They had to die, so you could do something they'd never do. To save the future."

"What are you talking about," Leo asked, bitterly. "They're all dead. Gone."

"No. Not all of them. Some escaped but it won't be long before the Titans find and kill them too. Leo. You can still stop them. You can still defeat the Titans."

"How?"

"I think you know how."

Leo did know. He knew was Chris was talking about. The Elders forbade it.

But the Elders weren't here to stop him.

"This is… crazy."

"It may be, but like it or not, you've been put in this situation for a reason. We both have."

Suddenly, Leo knew he had to do this. He had no choice. Whether or not he trusted Chris was irrelevant. It was clear there would be no future unless he acted.

"Chris, go down to them. If you're really a whitelighter, then you can guide them. They need you," Leo said.

Nodding, Chris orbed back to the manor, where he found Zeke pacing, while Paige, Phoebe and Piper were discussing… Leo.

"You persuaded him to do what needs to be done?" Zeke asked.

"I did. He proved more receptive than I anticipated."

"He trusts you," Zeke said, bluntly. "So do Piper, Phoebe and Paige. It would be obvious to anyone."

Chris shrugged. "It doesn't make a difference. He's still Leo. He's still the father who neglected me, hated me."

"It does make a difference. Maybe this time round there will be hope for the two of you."

"It doesn't matter now," Chris said. "What matters now is that the Titans are vanquished."

"Chris! Hello, hi, you there?" Piper asked, as he turned towards them. "Where's Leo?"

"He's doing what has to be done."

"What's that supposed to mean? And what's this about us supposedly battling the Titans?"

"You're about to find out."

A swirling light appeared and spun around the sisters. When it disappeared, they had been fully transformed. Piper turned to Phoebe and let out a small shriek.

"Wha- wha- wha," Phoebe stuttered, turning around on the spot, holding a lock of her now long, blonde hair, looking much like a dog chasing his tail.

"W-what are we?" Paige asked.

"You're Gods," Chris replied.

He and Zeke shared a smile. There was hope for the future, in more ways than one.

This chapter was based heavily on the episode 'Oh my Goddess part 1'. After I get rid of the Titans, the story should be based on the season's plots less and less.