Soul Survival
Disclaimer:
I have to say it again, as much as it pains me to sob. Chris died, if I had owned charmed the concept of his death wouldn't exist, therefore, I do not and probably never will own charmed or anything in connection to it.
AN:
I think I got an anonymous review, as it didn't have a reply link to it, from someone called spirock ( ). If this was the case, you will see the reply I would have sent to you on my profile page, if you are still interested in reading this that is. In order to prevent any future events like this, I will try to put replies to anonymous reviewers on my profile so you people aren't left out.
Summary:
What if in "Soul Survivor", Chris and Leo went to the future, instead of the soldiers? What if Leo got a taste of how bad the future really will be if Wyatt is not saved?
AU, Chris is not related to the Halliwell's but is a friend of the family.
Chapter 2: Hostile Receptions
Leo fell for a few seconds that seemed to stretch on and on before, he hit solid ground. The impact against his battered, dazed body was less than welcome to say the least. He laid there for a few seconds trying to absorb the shock; once he regained his awareness, he then staggered to his feet trying to ascertain his current whereabouts. Thankful that there were no broken bones or permanently damaged body parts, he started moving forward, stepping slowly to avoid hitting something else that he couldn't see through his hazy mind.
He was then grateful that he had moved away from that area as at that second Chris dropped to the flour, landing in a well-rehearsed squat on the ground. He stood up and looked about him, at the faces of his companions, at the state of the structure offering them temporary cover and finally at the Elder who had become the Bain of his existence for months.
"Chris, since when did you start hanging out with Elders? I thought you said they were nothing but useless, lazy retarded bastard with shit for brains."
This remark came from the scruffy young man who'd signalled to Chris to lift up the seal of the man-hole.
"Yes I did say that, and I still thoroughly believe that. In fact hanging around with Leo has re-enforced that belief to ridiculous levels." Chris responded with a smirk on his face, happy to be bantering with his old friend.
"Okay, just checking." The young man said with a shrug.
"So, how pissed off is The Source now? I hope you guys haven't been slacking off in my absence."
His question was answered by the angry screeches of the flying reptiles above them.
"Come on, we've gotta get going." Chris said in a vague, quietened voice while staring up above him at the underside of the seal, the only barrier between them and incineration.
"Yeah" The first man, Jordan, said in agreement.
With that, the group started moving forwards down one of the tunnels going off to the left-hand-side. Chris kept himself and Leo at the back of the bunch, intending to tell Leo certain details without the rest of them trying to put their two cents into the mix. It was already bad enough. The last thing he needed was the entire group to lose their tempers with the Elder, it would just get too complicated.
He had to admire Leo at that moment. He could so blatantly tell that the man's patience was wearing thin but he was still yet to voice it.
"What the hell is going on Chris? Where are we? And who the hell are all these people?"
Too bad it couldn't last.
"I already told you where we are. San Francisco 2026. We are on our way back to the Resistances base. And these people are one of the closest things to family I've got left. Believe it or not Leo this is the future I went back in time to save."
Leo could not understand this. There is no way the world could become like the war-zone he saw up above, there was just no way the Elders would let it get that bad.
"This can't be true." He gasped out in sheer disbelief of the situation.
Chris; noticing that he was merely in shock remained silent, giving him time to let it sink in.
Finally able to string some words together in order to voice his thoughts, the Elder asked "How could we let this happen?" His voice still shaky but improving as the minutes wore on.
"I don't know that for certain, but I was able to track the root cause to and attack on your son while he was still an infant, that's all I've been able to find. The Source outlawed digging into the past and had as many texts as possible relating to magic, that he deemed unnecessary to helping his rule grow and expand, destroyed and anybody who is found in possession of such a piece of information is put to death within days of being found. It was too risky to go looking for too much information so my team and I just looked for what we could get our hands on without putting each other or ourselves into too much danger. Once we formulated a doable plan, we picked the person who goes back and I was having one hell of an unlucky streak that day."
"Where are we going exactly?" Leo asked, trying to get his mind off of what he'd seen and focusing on the immediate present.
"We are going to a bunker that we've built. It has magical protection all aver it, wards, spells, potions and far too many other kinds of enchantments to count so relax you'll be perfectly safe."
"Who's 'we' exactly?"
"The Resistance. It's an organisation of witches, mortals, every magical group you could think of, or at least the ones that aren't extinct, and a few demons. All of which have the same common goal in mind; to fight against The Source and his army. There is also a spell set up that skims people intensions so anybody who switches sides can be easily detected and they are either instantly teleported out after having their minds cleared or they are vanquished. This depends on the individual and how much they know, but it's a very rare occurrence that anybody switches sides anyway, so you don't need to worry about that."
"And where abouts is this base?" Leo asked, getting tired of walking and becoming more than a little bit concerned about his surroundings. The walls were so worn and weathered, he wouldn't be surprised if a cave in was due.
"It's not too far, well not far for us anyway. Orbing is too dangerous, too traceable, so we don't do that anymore. Cars or any other kind of vehicle that you may be used to are not usable here, it's not practical in this day and age. So walking, running, transportation potions if available and sometimes shimmering have become our main methods of transportation. As a result, we are very good at walking and running, and we're capable of quickly covering distances that you or people from your time just can't. So in my opinion the base isn't that far way, but you may not think that, so there isn't much point in answering that, I'm afraid."
The two remained quiet for a while afterwards, neither knowing quite what to say to the other.
Finally, after what seemed like hours to Leo, the group stopped at a seemingly uninteresting, unremarkable dead-end. The wall was stone. Just as weathered, worn and grimy as the rest of the walls they'd passed. Granted light wasn't in abundance, but everything was just about clear enough for one wall to look not much different from another.
One of the group stepped forward and put her hand to the wall and a mechanic churning noise was heard, signalling the unlocking of the door concealed by the wall. Bright red ginger hair, gleaming blue eyes and a sheet white complexion, or at least she would have if the nasty looking graze on her cheek wasn't surrounded by drying blood and mud wasn't smeared across her face marring her facial features, or maybe it was the lost, pained look in her eyes that tainted her beauty.
The door finally opened. Although it wasn't so much a door, as a hatch built in the wall, disguised as the rock surrounding it. In fact, as Leo approached it, the rock was actually melded into the door, covering the outside, making it a very impressive decoy.
As they entered through the hatch, they passed through a thin tunnel, just big enough to fit an average sized human through comfortably. Safe to say, no one had any problems with squeezing through the tight gap, although Leo found it rather claustrophobic.
The tunnel stretched on for about 100 metres, slightly turning or twisting at a few points, until they came to a balcony overlooking a mass of people. The noise levels around the group were immediately raised to almost deafening proportions as they activity below became apparent. Leo looked down at them, noticing their scruffy, worn and dirty appearance with shock. 'People actually live underground like this.' He thought, still trying to grasp the concept of people living and functioning while the world above rotted as demons and God knows what else set up shop.
"Welcome to The Resistance, Leo" Chris greeted the Elder in cheery tones with arms outstretched, as if challenging the other to claim that it couldn't be true, while he observed the other man's reaction.
At that moment, someone came up behind Leo, spun him around by the shoulder and punched him so hard in the face that the impact sent him to the ground without a second's delay. Chris then went to stop the enraged attacker, knowing that he could risk something happening to Leo that could not be reversed, but also knowing that his friend would stop at nothing to get his revenge, even if he targeted it at the wrong version of the man who had wronged him.
"DJ, stop it, you can't kill him, that's no the guy you think it is." Chris tried to reason with him, but the other struggled against his grip, trying to get to the Elder who still lay on the ground where the first blow had put him.
"LET ME GO! Chris, that thing doesn't deserve to be alive after what it did to my family," the young man screamed while trying with all his might to get out of the witchlighter's grip. Fortunately, for the Elder, Chris was able to hold his ground regardless of how strong the other seemed to be.
After a while, the young man started to tire out and he stopped fighting as hard. Chris then started to try his luck, in the hope that his friend would listen to reason.
"I know what he did was unforgivable, man but you can't do this, that's not the Elder that did it, and he's from the past. He is not responsible for what his other self did yet you cannot harm him. Believe me; if your dad were here, he would tell you to let it go for now, this isn't the one you want to kill."
Eventually, the stranger gave up and walked away, not before punching Leo, who had stood back up by now, back to the ground.
Once he was a safe enough distance away, Chris went over to Leo, giving him a hand up.
"Who was that, and why is he so angry at me?"
"That's Darryl and Sheila's son. He's pissed at you because of something your future self did to Darryl a few years ago, it got him killed."
"What? I would not let Darryl be killed. What happened?"
"I can't tell you. It could be too dangerous if you have that information." With that said, Chris started to walk past Leo in the direction of a very busy looking area. He then took a turn and lead the Elder through a network of corridors and halls, navigating through the crowds in them, until they began to approach a large section of the complex which had guards standing outside each entrance and electronic (and probably magical as well, Leo thought) locks on the doors.
"Where are we now?" The Elder asked, finally needing to voice his question, breaking the straining silence that had fallen upon them.
"I'm taking you to Command Central." Chris said turning to gage Leo's reaction. "Don't get any ideas; I'm taking you to the guy in charge of all this, your son. The way I see it you are his father, meaning he has to keep you out of everybody else's way, not me."
"My son, Wyatt's in charge of all this?" Leo stuttered, finally flabbergasted with information.
"I can't elaborate on that that should be his job; I've got other things to do anyway."
Chris then walked up the step, onto the platform just in front of the door as the guard eyed Leo suspiciously. "Relax; he's no threat to any of us." The guard then stepped aside, opening the door a little more to grant them entry.
Chris then led the Elder around desks, through the crowds, over wires and eventually got to the office used by the Leader of the Resistance, Darren Halliwell.
Chris knocked on the door and entered, Leo following closely behind, eager to see what his pride and joy had become. What he was met with was a young man, about the same age as Chris, a few inches taller than he was, with brown hair, chocolate eyes, and plain, pale skin.
"Wyatt?" Leo asked a look of absolute joy at seeing his future son before him.
"No Leo, my names Darren Halliwell."
The look on Leo's face fell within a second. "But Chris said my son was in here, leading The Resistance." Not for the first time today, he just did not understand what was going on.
Please review, it would be so cool, believe me.