"Look, I know you don't trust Chris for some reason, Leo but he hasn't done anything but help. He helped us defeat the titans, didn't he?"
"Yes, I know that. But he's also lying, Paige." Paige turned to Piper, who was standing at the sink, to try and get her to back her up. She frowned.
"Uh, honey, are you alright?" She asked, coming over to her sister. Piper had been in the middle of washing dishes but she was now staring into space. Paige put a hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her daze.
"Piper?" She smiled a little at Paige.
"I'm fine." She said, turning around.
"Yeah." Paige said, but her frown didn't leave. She'd been a little worried about Piper lately. "You've been acting a little…out of it lately. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"
"What could be wrong?" She asked, starting out of the room. Leo frowned as well.
"You've noticed too, huh?" He nodded. "At first, I thought it was because of-" Paige cut off.
"Me. I know. But it isn't." He looked after Piper. "She's over me." Paige sighed.
"I'm sorry, Leo." He shrugged, going over to the counter.
"It's okay. It's what I wanted, after all. For her to be happy, to move on…" Paige walked over as well, facing him.
"Which just proves what a good guy you are." She said with confidence. He smiled a little at her and let out a breath.
"So, what do you think is wrong?" Paige frowned.
"I don't know. It's weird. I mean, she said that she feels like she's missing something." Her frown deepened. "Maybe I should ask Chris."
"Why? You think he did something to Piper?" Paige rolled her eyes.
"No, I don't. I think he's from the future, and might know what's going on." She held up a hand. "Look, I understand you wanting to look out for us, but I don't think you have to worry about Chris."
"Chris!" Paige called in exasperation when she'd gotten to the attic. Chris was hardly at the manor since the titans had been defeated. He'd only come twice, and that was to get them to vanquish demons.
"Paige, what is it?" Chris asked as soon as he orbed in. Paige glared when she caught the irritation in his voice.
"We need to talk."
"Look, I really don't have time for this-"
"I'm really sorry I'm taking you away from whatever demon you're pissing off at the moment, but this is important."
"Why? what happened?" He asked, his voice changing from irritated to concerned. "Did you guys get attacked?"
"No, but Piper has been acting strange the titans were vanquished. I was wondering if you knew why."
"Why would I know why?" Paige's eyes narrowed.
"Well, you are from the future, and you seem to know a hell of a lot about us…" Chris raised an eyebrow.
"You really think they put Piper's mood swings in the history books?" She glared at him again, crossing her arms.
"Chris-"
"I really need to go, Paige. I don't have time for this." He interrupted her, orbing out. She sighed, throwing her arms up.
Chris looked around the place carefully. He had orbed out of the attic and out of San Francisco. He'd been about to go check things out when Paige had started calling.
He hadn't tried talking to the girls yet, not really. He had decided to try and find out what had happened to make Cole and Piper forget about each other first. He couldn't find anything, though.
Neither of them was doing very well, something he had expected. He remembered the way Cole had been after Piper died. If there was anything that Chris believed it was that Piper and Cole belonged together. They were meant for each other.
Chris glanced into the bar he knew that Cole was at. He'd moved away from San Francisco and into some tiny apartment in Florida, as far away from the sisters he could get without leaving the country. When he looked inside, though, he didn't see Cole.
"Why are you following me?" Chris had barely turned when someone was dragging him down an alley and pushing him up against the wall. He met Cole's suspicious blue eyes.
"I'm not a demon." He said, holding up his hands.
"I know that, kid." Cole glared at him. "What I want to know is why a whitelighter is following me."
"I'm…" Chris sighed. "I'm the sister's new whitelighter." Cole scowled.
"Of course you are." He let go of Chris. "What do they want with me?"
"Nothing. They don't really like you much."
"Yeah, I know that. So, why are you here?" Chris considered his answer for a moment, but he couldn't find anything out in the underworld. Maybe if he talked to him…
"I'm from the future." He said calmly, watching Cole for his reaction.
"Right. Of course you are. Still doesn't answer the question." Chris sighed and ran a hand over his face, pacing a little away from Cole.
"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I didn't intend for this to happen. Something I did changed things. Something happened I didn't expect when I convinced Leo to help the girls vanquish the titans." Cole crossed his arms.
"What are you talking about?" Chris smiled a little at him. He could see the concern in the depths of Cole's eyes.
"You're not supposed to be here." What he had seen in Cole's eyes disappeared at that, and he turned to walk away.
"Wait." Chris caught up with him after he left the alley.
"So, what's the deal? Was I not supposed to leave town after all? Were the girls supposed to vanquish me in your future? Sorry, kid. I'm not going back so they can figure out how to kill me."
"No, that's not what I meant." Chris grabbed Cole's arm to stop him, but released the man immediately when Cole turned a glare on him. "Don't you get it? Do you really think I'd come all the way here if they wanted to vanquish you? I meant that you're not supposed to be in Florida. You're supposed to be in San Francisco."
"Excuse me? Kid, the girls pretty much hate me, like you said. They wanted me to leave. There's no way that they would want me there."
"Not even if you were in love with one of them." Cole crossed his arms again.
"I don't know what kind of info you've got, kid, but Phoebe and I haven't been together for months."
"I'm not talking about Phoebe." Cole raised an eyebrow, and Chris hesitated again before continuing. He knew that Cole would never believe that he and Phoebe would get back together. "I'm talking about Piper." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Cole turned and started walking away once again.
"Look, I'm not lying." Chris said, pacing him. "I know it's crazy, but it is the truth. Sometime during the last year after you and Phoebe split, you and Piper-" Cole turned to him.
"Kid, I don't know what you think you're doing, or why, but if you wanted to play me, you got your information wrong. Hell, there's a better chance of me switching sides and hooking up with Leo." Chris made a face at that, really not wanting to imagine Cole and Leo, two men he had known his whole life. Two men who had declared themselves family. Several times.
"That's really not funny."
"Neither is coming here and telling me that I'm in love with Piper." Chris picked up his pace, stepping in front of Cole and stopping him in his tracks.
"I really am from the future. And I'm telling the truth." Cole considered him for a moment.
"Okay, let's say that you are. Why do you care?"
"I'm trying to save the future." He said, an idea forming. "I can't do that without the charmed ones. And, I know for a fact that without you, they won't be around long enough for anything." He wasn't lying exactly. He knew that Cole had saved the girls lives, several times. He almost smiled when he saw the concern jump back into Cole's eyes. Even if he couldn't remember it, Cole and Piper would always be connected. Still, Chris could see that Cole didn't believe him.
"What if I could find a way to give you proof?"
"And how are you going to do that?"
"I'm not sure yet, but I'm working on reversing whatever was done to make you guys forget. I'll be back." Chris orbed out after that.
He hoped that Cole was thinking about it. Chris knew that he didn't believe him, but he also knew that he'd at least be thinking about it. Maybe telling Cole the truth would make whatever magic had done this easier to reverse.
Piper flipped through the book a little half heartedly, more to have something to do than anything else. She knew that her sisters were worried about her, but she couldn't give them an explanation on how she was feeling.
She just had the distinct impression that something was…missing. That she was missing something. Half the time, she felt like she was supposed to be somewhere but she didn't know where.
She felt a little bit apathetic about it all. Demon hunting, P3. It wasn't Leo, even though he seemed to be hanging around a little bit more since Chris had become their whitelighter. She hadn't felt this way after Leo left. She'd been angry and miserable but this was an entirely different feeling.
She felt like none of it was important, because she should be doing something. She felt like she should be guilty or worried about something, she just didn't know what. Looking down at the book, Piper sighed.
"I can't keep on like this." She said. She had written a spell, but was unsure about casting it. Last time she had cast a spell on herself it hadn't exactly worked out well. But this feeling…it was worse than the feeling she had when Leo left. This feeling of being incomplete.
It wasn't her best, but she wasn't the spell writing expert in the family, and it should work. She'd wrote it because she was afraid that this feeling she'd been having had something supernatural behind it. If it was just her, it shouldn't do anything…
"Bring me what magic may have cost
What I've missed, what I've lost
Demons or curse or witches mistake
Bring me what will make me stop feeling fake."
For several seconds, nothing happened, and then she saw it working. She watched the center of the attic as someone began to form there, and when he did fully form, her jaw dropped in shock.
"Cole." She said, staring at him. After a moment, anger welled in her and without thinking; she lifted her hands and used her power. It didn't hurt him, she didn't expect it to. "What did you do to me?"
Cole had been thinking about what the kid had said, and he had formed only one conclusion. They were trying to drive him crazy. There was no way in hell Piper Halliwell would ever fall for him.
He was angry afterwards. Hadn't he done what they wanted? He'd left town, left Phoebe and her sisters alone, he was trying to move on. He thought he should have been succeeding, too. He didn't love Phoebe anymore, that much he knew.
Something was…missing, though. He chalked it up to the fact that he really didn't have anything in this life. He'd given up everything he'd ever known for Phoebe and without her he really didn't know what to do, even if he didn't love her anymore.
He didn't truthfully consider the whitelighter's words. They were ridiculous. Maybe the kid really was from the future. Maybe they did just want to vanquish him again. This thought made him even angrier.
He didn't expect one of the girls to summon him. He really didn't expect to be standing in front of Piper when he appeared in the Halliwell attic. He was not surprised, though, when she tried to blow him up.
Chris was frustrated. He'd been searching relentlessly and found no way to get Piper and Cole back together nor had he found a way to get the proof that he had promised Cole.
He had orbed straight back to the attic from the underworld to find the two people he'd been trying to save trying to kill each other.
"Excuse me?" Cole said, standing up after Piper's blow had knocked him off his feet.
"You heard me." She said in fury, raising her hands again, but not using her power.
"I didn't do anything to you, Piper." He said, just as angry now. "So, what? You send your boy to mess with me before summoning me? You can't kill me, Piper!"
"My boy?" Piper asked.
"The whitelighter." Cole growled, stepping closer to her. Piper's face paled and then rage flashed in her eyes again. Chris chose that moment to orb in and Piper and Cole both turned glares on him.
"You!" She said. "Are you working with him or something? Did you do this?"
"What sort of game are you two playing?" Cole asked at the same time. Chris held up his hands, his gaze on Cole for the moment.
"I'm not playing any games. I was telling you the truth." Cole's glare intensified a bit more and Chris took a step back, not used to that look being directed at him.
"Right. I'm in love with the witch that just tried to blow me up?"
"I-" Chris was cut off and his eyes widened when several demons shimmered into the attic, all with energy balls in hand.
Cole, without thinking about it, grabbed Piper and dove to the ground, covering her body with his, protecting her. He lifted only enough to send several of his own energy balls at the demons and Chris took out the ones that he didn't.
Cole looked down at Piper, concerned despite what had happened before the demons had shimmered in. Their noses were almost touching, and he stared down into her eyes for several seconds before, without thinking, he leaned down and kissed her and his world shifted for the second time in two weeks.