REGRET

Piper took the cookies out of the oven, forgetting what Chris had told her about the demon that attacked earlier. That didn't matter right now. What mattered was that Chris looked even worse than he had a few days ago. He had dark shadows under his eyes; he got little sleep and when he did, he was restless, fitful; he wasn't eating as much, but drank much more coffee than usual. His exhaustion was presenting itself loud and clear.

She knew what it was about, of course. Zeke. It had been almost a week since Chris last saw him, and she knew he was growing more and more worried about that. But each time she offered to help search for Zeke, Chris had declined the offer and quickly left.

His behaviour was confusing her, but she tried to push it to the back of her mind.

"Oh! Look! Daddy's here," she exclaimed, smiling at Wyatt as Leo orbed in.

"We need to talk," Leo said, quietly.

"No, you need to orb. There's diapers in the bag. Wyatt is very excited to spend the afternoon with you."

"Uh, I can't take Wyatt today," Leo said.

"What do you mean? You asked to take Wyatt today. You know, father son bonding," Piper said, incredulously. She had friends coming over, and once they were gone, she intended to find Chris and speak to him about Zeke. Piper was too busy to look after him today.

"Yeah, well, that was until I found this. Do you know where Chris got this? He killed for it. The Valkyrie who owned this pendant was killed."

Piper sighed in frustration. "Leo, this isn't cool. I don't have time for this. I have friends coming over and-"

"Piper, Chris isn't who he says he is. I know he's the one who sent me to Valhalla and this pendant just proves it."

Piper opened her mouth to say something but shut it again. There was too much truth in his words. All the same…

"Leo… I don't know. He might not be who he says he is but I still think we can trust him."

Leo watched her, confused. "Even after all this? He sent me to Valhalla. He's killed a Valkyrie. Why do you still trust him?"

"Well, Leo, it's just…" Piper let out a breath. "I don't know. There's just this feeling that I have. Like some sort of instinct. I know we can trust Chris. I'm sure everything he's done has been for a good reason."

Frowning, Leo took a step backwards. "What about Zeke then?"

"I don't trust him. I know Chris does. I know he cares a lot for him but… I just have this feeling that he's dangerous. But I don't know why."

For a few second, Leo didn't say anything. Then he nodded.

"I understand. I feel the same way. But even so, I can't ignore what he's done."

He looked at Piper, almost regretfully, before orbing away.

The magical beings stood tense and alert, watching Chris, listening as he went over the plan one last time. When he'd finished, a heavy silence hung over the building, the weight of what they were about to do sinking in.

"It'll be fine," Chris said, his voice wavering slightly. "We'll be okay," he added, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

He gazed at the solemn faces before him, and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Good luck."

Then he orbed out, to Golden Gate Bridge where Zeke was waiting, pacing, facing away from Chris, running his hands through his hair, trying to steady his breathing.

"Zeke?"

The half demon spun around, a look of relief spreading across his face.

"Chris. Sorry, I'm a little jumpy."

"I can tell," Chris replied, reaching out to take Zeke's hand. "Don't be. We'll be fine. I'm sure we will."

Zeke nodded, his face still pale and drawn. He gave Chris a small smile. Then Odin orbed to join them.

"You're sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," Chris confirmed.

Odin eyed him carefully for a moment, before shutting his eyes and muttering a few words under his breath.

"The enchantments are down."

Chris looked at Zeke, who took a deep breath.

"Good luck," he said, quietly.

"Good luck," Chris said, as Zeke shimmered to Magic School.

"Don't mess this up," Odin said to Chris, before also orbing away.

Chris took a few deep breaths to calm himself, before orbing to the manor.

Vial in hand, Chris orbed into the demon's lair.

"I don't understand," Gith muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Chris asked.

"The boyfriend took the bullet. It was meant for the witch!"

Chris's expression darkened. "You tried to kill one of them already?"

"I create worlds, I don't control them. They work in their own way. But this is the first time a victim has survived a direct attempt on their life."

"They're good, aren't they?" Chris said, clutching the vial tightly in his hand.

"It doesn't matter. Their desires will kill them eventually," Gith said, turning and walking away. "After all, that's what you desire, isn't it?"

"Actually-" Chris began, spinning around to throw the vanquishing potion.

Gith turned at the same time, lifting up a darklighter's crossbow and firing it. It embedded itself deep in Chris's stomach, and he stumbled backwards, collapsing on the ground, face screwed up in pain.

"I could sense your desire from the beginning," Gith said. "You never wanted to kill your charges, only teach them a lesson." Chris's face was contorted with pain but his eyes blazed with fury as he watched Gith. "Oh yes, darklighter's poison. But you should be alive long enough to watch the Charmed Ones learn their lesson.."

Chris turned his head away from Gith, eyes falling shut, trying to focus. But he didn't have the strength to orb anywhere, and even if he did, where was he supposed to go to? Leo would ignore his calls. The sisters were trapped in different realities. Zeke was missing…

Zeke.

Leo had earlier said that with luck, today would be Chris's last day as a whitelighter. While Chris had known that was quite possible, he never imagined it would be because he'd die. A hearing with the Elders, he could have survived. Being shot with a darklighter's arrow? Not much chance.

And the worst of it? The fact he'd never see Zeke again. That the half demon had gone missing days ago, and the last conversation they'd had was strained and tense. That he could never say goodbye.

"An empath?" Gith cried, outraged. "You never told me the middle sister was an empath!"

"Sorry," Chris muttered.

He raised his head, slowly propping himself up on his arm, wincing as he did so. Then, when Gith was distracted, with the simple flick of his wrist, Paige and Phoebe's worlds merged.

Upon realising this, Gith gave Chris a sharp blow to the head, sending a jolt of pain through his body. Satisfied, Gith returned to watching the sisters in their realities.

"Now they'll be able to get to the older sister and escape," he cried, angrily. Then he paused and thought. "Not if I get to her first."

He shimmered out, leaving Chris alone, furious at himself and his stupidity. He'd only wanted to teach them a lesson, about paying more attention to their wiccan duties. But now it looked like they were all going to be killed. And if that happened, if he was the cause of the deaths of the Charmed Ones… Chris could never forgive himself. If they died, it meant he killed his family. If they died, the future would be in an even worse place than what it already was.

Not to mention that Chris wouldn't exist in the first place.

"Well, I'm glad you made it out of that other world alright," Leo said.

"Yeah," Piper said. "And you have Chris to thank for that."

"Chris, yeah, well he should have taken me with him to that cave or at least told me where my family was."

Piper sighed. "Leo, give him a break. He earned it today."

Outside in the hallway, Chris stood leaning against the wall, listening to their conversation. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop- far from it. He'd gone to find Leo so they could go to the hearing. But then he'd heard his parents discussing him and curiosity had overcome him.

"I know," Leo admitted. "But it's still frustrating, you know. That he acts far from the usual whitelighter. That everything he's done has seemed to cause harm one way or another. Yet we still can't help but trust him."

Piper looked down. "Yeah… not just trust either."

Leo furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" she took a deep breath. "There's been all sorts of emotions I've felt towards him. Trust, worry, concern… but most of all, love. It's been there from the moment I saw him and just can't understand why."

"You think it means anything?" Leo asked.

"I don't know," Piper said. "But I think you're right that he's not telling us who he really is. And no matter how much I trust him and care about him, I need to know who he is."

Leo nodded. "I won't stop until I find out."

From outside the room, Chris smiled. The revelation that Piper cared for him and loved him gave him hope that on some level, his mother recognised him.

Not wanting to eavesdrop any longer, Chris knocked on the door.

"Hey," he said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey," Piper said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Thanks. So, it's almost time for my hearing with the Elders. Thought I'd give you the pleasure of taking me in personally." Chris looked at the floor, silently hoping that after what he'd just heard, Leo would have changed his mind about the hearing.

"Yeah," Leo mumbled. "Maybe. Thought I'd just give you this instead." He turned to face Chris and handed him the Valkyrie pendant.

Chris looked at it, a smile forming on his face. "What? I don't understand."

"Neither do I," Leo said, trying to hide a smile. "Just, take it before I change my mind." Leo dropped the pendant into Chris's hands and quickly left the room.

Piper watched him, smiling fondly. "Thanks for trying to warn us about the demon," she said. "We should have listened to you."

Chris's face fell, guilt creeping in and settling at the pit of his stomach.

"Well, as long as you've learnt something at the end of the day, that's all that matters, right?"

"Right."

At the reassuring smile on his mother's face, the guilt eased slightly, and the corners of his mouth turned upwards.

Chris gazed out of the window into the night, looking at the beauty of San Francisco lit up in the dark. They'd done it. The Charmed Ones were safe. The demon was vanquished. The hearing had been cancelled. His parents trusted and cared for him, even if they didn't understand why.

But the night was far from perfect.

Because Zeke was still missing, and Chris couldn't rest until he was found safe and well. Every chance he'd got, he was in the Underworld, interrogating demons, to no avail. He knew that searching with Piper would get him a lot further, but he hadn't wanted to ask her, and giving up was not an option.

So he orbed back to the Underworld.

"What do you want with me?" Zeke asked, through gritted teeth.

"I want you to tell me who you are."

"I've told you. I'm Zeke Daemon."

The demon nodded. "However, if you are as powerful as you appear to be, then why have I never heard of you before?"

Zeke hesitated. "Because I'm from the future."

The demon's eyes gleamed. "Aha! We got there. Well, if you're from the future then you should have some extra knowledge."

"Shut the hell up and just tell me what you want from me."

The demon tittered. "I'm on a mission, you see, and I need your help." He paused. "Though I don't know whether to trust you or not, since your first instinct was to toast me with a fireball."

Zeke rolled his eyes. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm not sure it's wise to divulge that information to you yet," the demon said, tilting his head, looking at Zeke thoughtfully. "But since you can hardly do anything locked up here, I suppose it will be alright. I'm a demon- a powerful one, as you know. One who wants to destroy the Charmed Ones and raise the Twice Blessed as evil." He grinned, maliciously. "Tell me, do I succeed?"