Hello! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the earlier chapter, and every chapter before that. I've passed all my exams and, provided the course requirements don't violently shift - I've gotten my college course in the college I wanted :)
Thank you to everyone who has been following this story and I'm sorry about the long gap between the last chapters - but it payed off for me.
Phoebe jumped to her feet when Wyatt disappeared in a swirl of orbs. "Paige?" She said. Paige nodded and orbed away. She hoped that Wyatt had only gone to the attic. She wasn't sure what they would do if Wyatt was missing and Chris was dying.
Chris had wasted most of his energy in his failed attempt at orbing and his struggles to get up. Now he was weak and quiet. Phoebe preferred him not fighting, but she wished that he wasn't so still. It made his wheezing and gasping breaths sound louder.
Phoebe turned when she heard the tingling sound of orbs behind her, expecting it to be Leo or Paige. Or Wyatt. But it wasn't. She jumped to her feet, ready to fight. There was a brunette woman behind her. Phoebe had never seen her before.
"Who are you?" She demanded, when the woman didn't move to fight. Instead her dark eyes were fixed on Chris, with a worried expression on her face.
The woman's eyes flicked up to Phoebe and twisted even more, for a second, into an expression of grief before she pulled a stoic mask over her face. Phoebe had seen Chris do the exact same thing so many times that it was unnerving.
"I'm Chris' sister, Mel," the woman said, then she tried to push past Phoebe.
Phoebe blocked her. She didn't know this woman and she couldn't just take her word for it. "Prove it," she demanded, uncertain of how Mel could. She had orbed down her, which proved that she was a whitelighter, but was she a witchlighter like Chris?
Mel frowned. "How?" She asked. "I can't use my powers in front of you. Future consequences, and all that," she said.
Phoebe almost laughed, but she could still hear Chris' wheezing behind her and it smothered any amusement that she felt. As did the figure that rushed down the stairs from the attic.
"Cole?" She gasped. Mel tensed, and Phoebe felt a sudden stab of betrayal. Paige had been looking at her oddly when she came from the attic. This was why. She had known that Cole was up there.
Cole raised his hands in surrender. "Phoebe, don't. I know that this is hard, believe me, I know. But I came here for Chris. I'm trying to help."
"How are you still alive?" Phoebe demanded.
Cole scowled. "It's complicated, I'm sorry. I'm not alive right now - in this time period. I'm from the future. I'm a friend of Chris and his family."
"Do I know that? Do we know that? Does Chris know what you are?"
Cole opened and closed his mouth several times. "We - you and me - we made our peace with what happened before you..."
Phoebe frowned as Cole trailed off. "'Before I' what?"
"The future is a very different place, Phoebe," Mel muttered. "Things have changed. People have changed. Cole is a friend, of us and, once, of you."
Phoebe didn't know if she believed it, but it was as likely as her beautiful little nephew becoming evil. Also as worrying was the thought that she was dead in Chris' time. They were all talking about her in past tense and the woman, Mel, had seemed grieved to see her again.
"M - Phoebe?"
Phoebe looked at the stairs to see another brunette hurrying down the stairs, clutching a bow in one hand.
"Cole's telling the truth. He really has changed. Will change. He's a good man. You trusted him. He becomes like a second father to your children. They love him. You love him. He changes," she said.
"PJ," Cole muttered.
The girl, PJ, shook her head. As she came close, Phoebe could see the tears in her eyes. Her heart ached, in the same way it had earlier. According to this girl, she would have children, and Cole would look after them when she died. She would die young, like her mother.
PJ swallowed loudly. "Oh, please don't cry," she pleaded. "It always set me off too." She hurried forward and threw her arms around Phoebe.
Phoebe reprociated the hug, blinking back her own tears, and she noticed Cole doing the same. She couldn't imagine a future where she could ever truly love Cole again, but it was clear that he loved this girl. Maybe he could change. Would change.
~Poisoned~
Paige orbed into the attic to see Piper holding Wyatt and talking quietly with Leo. The girl with the bow, Cole, and the girl covered in demon bits had disappeared down the stairs, eventually followed by the older man, leaving the red head and the other man alone.
Paige approached them, uncertain. They both looked lost, without their family to hid behind. Paige remembered that feeling. The pair watched her closely.
"I'm Paige," she introduced.
The man smiled. "We know."
"Because I'm a Charmed One, or because I'm Wyatt's aunt?" She asked.
The man's smile twitched. "Both," he said, "and neither. We… we know you anyway."
"All half-whitelighters know each other," the woman said. "But we're pretty close."
"I'm Henry," the man said. "This is my sister, Kat."
Paige nodded. "You're both half-whitelighters?"
Henry shook his head. "No. I'm adopted. A mere mortal."
Kat scoffed. "'Mere'," she repeated, sarcastically.
Henry shrugged bashfully. "Okay, maybe I have other uses," he said while Kat rolled her eyes.
"So, the future," Paige said. "How do I look? I'm allowed to know that, aren't I?"
Kat shrugged. "It's a hard life. But, all things considered, you look pretty good." She beamed at her, making her smile.
"Am I allowed to ask about my family? Any kids? A man?"
Kat's smile fell into something sad. "Yeah," she murmured. "You have kids. Three. You're a great mom, too. And Dad - the dad, he's great too. You really love each other."
Paige nodded. "Are you two alright?" She asked.
Kat shook her head. Henry put an arm around her shoulder. "Sorry," he said. "We just lost our sister. Kat's twin. She… she changed sides a long time ago, but she died to warn us about Chris. She… we saw it happen."
"I'm so sorry," Paige said. She wasn't sure what to do. She felt like she should hug them, she had wanted a hug after her parents had died. But, she wasn't sure if she should. She had certainly attacked anyone who came too close when she was grieving.
"We know," Kat muttered. "You were there too. It… it was hard on us all."
Paige decided to go with her instincts and hug the pair. Henry cried quietly while Kat stayed tense and shaking, like she had been. She would need to do something about her grief. Paige had acted out when her parents died, until she finally broke down. Hopefully that wouldn't happen to Kat.
~Poisoned~
Chris felt like he couldn't breathe, like the air was slowing being sucked out of the room. His skin burned. His blood boiled. Still, he shivered. He felt as though his teeth would rattle out of his head. He didn't feel as though he would be strong enough to pick them back up.
He felt weak.
If he were in his own time, Chris was sure that he would be dead. In his future, with the lack of whitelighters, and medicine, illnesses were a death sentence. During flu seasons, Chris did nothing but conduct solo demon hunts and reconnaissance. There weren't enough people to do raids with, to rescue their people, to take down Wyatt's strongholds. Instead, Chris used the time to prepare for future missions. And wait for his own death. He owed it to his mother, to his aunt, to his uncles and grandpa to die better. He owed it to his sister, cousins and fellow Resistance members to keep fighting.
For a moment, Chris thought that the faces above him were hallucinations to remind him of that fact, until Mel reached out and touched him. He flinched at the cool touch, but couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face.
"Mel," he murmured. "Matt. What are you doing here?"
Matt pressed a cool hand to Chris' forehead. "Well, we couldn't let you have all the fun, Chris. Things are boring back home. And none of your cousins like my jokes," he joked.
Mel rolled her eyes. "We're here to help you," she said. "You're very sick."
"I noticed," Chris gasped.
Mel slapped him lightly. It was more of a quick tap to the chest. "Don't joke, Chris. This is serious. It was Ryake. He sent back Lokl and Jarik to do it. We've killed him, but we don't know where his brother is. They're probably guarding the cure, especially since they probably know we're here now. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a way to communicate. Pair demons always do."
Chris nodded, slowly wrapping his mind around that. "Is everyone okay?" He asked. "Who's here?"
"Henry got hurt when we first portalled here. We bumped into Ryake. And there was a bit of a tussle in the attic, but Leo healed us. We're all fine now," Matt said.
Mel shot him a look. She probably hadn't wanted to tell him anything about that. As to not 'worry' him. As though he wasn't always worrying about them.
"Who's…?" He tried to ask again, but Mel picked it up before he could finish.
"Well, there's me and Matt. PJ, Kat, Henry and Cole are here too."
"Cole?" Chris repeated.
Mel nodded. "Yeah, we're all already regretting that decision. It's made things much harder."
Chris scoffed. "Harder than seeing Mom and Aunt Phoebe?" He asked. "Harder than seeing how carefree Paige was before Uncle Henry died? It's one thing to remember…"
Mel looked away.
Chris swallowed. "Tam," he murmured. "She's dead, isn't she?" Mel nodded. "Wyatt?" She nodded again.
"She was the one who told us what happened."
Chris squeezed his eyes shut. "Why would she do that? Stupid."
Mel was scowling when he opened his eyes again. "She loved you, Chris. We all love you. None of us want to see you hurt. Except you."
Chris rolled his eyes. Of course she was going to give out to him now. He was on his deathbed. Mel hit him again, clearly guessing that thought.
Matt looked between them. "What? Chris? Mel? What are you talking about? Chris, what did you do?"
Mel glared at him. "Leo had Elder powers," she explained. "In our timeline, Dad didn't become an Elder until Chris was a year old. That's when Mom and Dad's relationship started going bad. They got through it to make me, but Chris…"
Matt turned on him. "Chris did you risk your own existence!?" He demanded.
"Doesn't matter," Chris protested.
"Like hell it 'doesn't matter', Chris!" Matt exclaimed. "Do you know what your dad said before we left? He said that he would prefer to have you and Mel, safe, in the future, then have Wyatt saved in the past."
Chris paused in his retort. That didn't sound like the Leo he had grown up with. His father had always believed that Wyatt was most important. What had happened since he had been gone?
"We're losing, Chris," said Mel, quietly. "It doesn't matter if we kill Wyatt, destroy his empire. We've still lost Mom. We've still lost our whole family. We've still lost Bianca," she added, even quieter.
Chris shut his eyes to hide from the memory of his fiance. He missed her everyday, but he tried to pretend that she wasn't gone forever, that she was just in the future. She was just somewhere else, and one day they would be together again. That was why he needed to save Wyatt. He needed to make a better future for him and Bianca.
"If this kills me," Chris began.
"It won't," Matt interrupted. "We won't let it."
Chris shot Matt a glare and continued. "If this, or something else, kills me, I need one of you to keep going. We need to save Wyatt." He swallowed. "Save him or kill him. Save our future."
"Chris," Mel said, softly.
"Promise me, Mel," Chris interrupted. "Promise me that if I die, someone will take on the job. We need to save Wyatt. For Aunt Phoebe, for Tam, for Mikey, for Uncle Coop, Henry, Derek, for Grandpa, for Bianca. For me."
Mel sucked in a breath. She pressed her lips to his forehead, no doubt feeling the incredible heat burning through him. She whispered, "I promise."
Bit of a sad point to leave off on, sorry. But, I'm not a fan of character deaths so don't worry. Things will get better for Chris. Eventually. Again, thank you so much to everyone who has left feedback on this fic. I hope you all enjoy it.