Disclaimer: Nothing in the Charmed world belongs to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 13 Please No!
Piper sat nervously peering at the clock as she and Wyatt waited expectantly for Chris to arrive. Paige and Phoebe had long since gone home to their own families knowing that if Chris was able to come he and his immediate family would need time to discuss things that had not been revealed yet. They had all agreed that it was probably for the best that Chris not know what had happened to Leo as long as he and Wyatt were still in the past. That would have just been a distraction that they didn't believe they could afford at the time. But sooner or later with Chris in this timeline he would find out, one way or another, and none of them wanted it to be a complete surprise to him. That might cause too much stress in an already stressful situation.
"I wonder why it's taking so long?" Wyatt asked staring at the clock himself as he paced up and down the attic floor stepping every so often on the infamous board that always squeaked. Normally the sound did not bother him but in his state of worry it was becoming all too annoying. "We really should fix that, you know."
Piper's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Not that, Wyatt. You never know when it might come in handy while living with sons that have a penchant for time travel."
Wyatt just rolled his eyes and again turned away to walk to the far end of the attic but stopped in his tracks as a form materialized in front of him.
Piper was on her feet and next to Wyatt within seconds with her hands up in a defensive posture. They both stared at their wayward family member taking in his appearance. He was completely dressed in black and his hair was slightly longer than what they were used to but those crystal green eyes were so familiar from another time. "Chris?" Piper asked hesitantly.
Within seconds Chris had crossed the space between them and grabbed his mother holding her as tight as he dared. Her hands for a moment stayed spread out to the sides still in a defensive position but then as she realized what he was doing she wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight.
"God, I missed you, Mom. I know it's only been a few days for me but…" He didn't continue the statement as he just allowed himself to enjoy the warmth of his mother's embrace.
Piper pulled back slightly so she could look into his eyes, just to be sure. Old habits of distrust often died hard. She could see the sparkle of unshed tears they held and she reached up to run one hand along his cheek and he instinctively turned his face into her hand enjoying the feel of her soft fingers. Yes that was her Chris. The Chris that she had learned to love in the past and still to this day made pulled at her heartstrings with just a glance of those overly bright crystal green eyes. "It's been so many years, Chris," she whispered remembering the night she had stood in that very attic and read the letter from her son explaining why he had to leave. The words he had said to her in that letter had haunted her for so very long now. He had apologized for hurting her when he lied to them in the past and she had never even realized that he felt that way. That it hurt so much for him to imagine the pain he had caused her with is dishonesty. "You didn't do anything wrong, baby." She knew she had to tell him; to explain away his fears and worries from what she considered so long ago but to him was only a short while before. She could see the confusion in his eyes though at that statement. "You never gave me the chance to tell you. I understood why you did the things you did in the past and I know you did what had to be done. I just wanted you to know that I forgave you a long time ago."
Chris remembered then and he gave her a halfway lopsided grin. He mused at how strange it was the things that stuck in a person's mind over the years. His mother's first instinct after not seeing him for twenty some odd years was to allay his guilt over something that was ancient history to her. "You always were quick to forgive us no matter what."
Piper knew he was referring to his original timeline, the one that she had not been able to be apart of this time around and in a way that thought ripped at her heart. She had missed so much with him. She knew if she looked at him for much longer she would start to cry and that was not something that would help either of them, so instead she hugged him close again burying her face in his chest.
Chris too late realized what that statement must have meant to his mother. "I'm sorry, Mom. I forgot for a minute. You just look so much like the mom that I lost in my timeline. Seeing you here like this brings back a lot of memories for me."
Piper pulled away but held onto one of his hands as she wiped a few tears away that had managed to escape down her cheeks no matter how hard she had tried to stop them. "Its okay, sweetie. If we get this right I'll get to be that mom anyway. And one way or the other we will get this right."
Chris took that as his queue to get back to the business at hand and turned to face Wyatt. He noticed how his brother's lip was slightly swollen from the punch he had given him earlier. He grimaced slightly at the sight and gave him a small smile. "Sorry 'bout the lip, bro."
Wyatt grunted slightly and shook his head in dismissal of the apology. "You are a much better fighter than your counterpart in this time, kiddo."
"Yeah, it was all I could do to keep Bianca from whipping our collective butts too," he admitted.
Piper's eyes widened at the mention of the assassin that had nearly cost her son his life in his other timeline. He had never really told them exactly what had happened to her, but she had a feeling it wasn't anything good for the Phoenix. "Is he involved with her?"
"Who's Bianca?" Wyatt asked in confusion.
Chris hadn't thought about the fact that this Wyatt would have never met her. "She was my fiancé in the other timeline. But no, he's not involved with her this time around. I have a feeling if I hadn't been there either she or he would have been dead before it was over with. He's nothing like I was. There's no way she'd fall for him."
"Okay wait. You were engaged to someone who is ready to kill this timeline's version of you. Why were you engaged to a killer?" Wyatt knew there was so much that his family hadn't told him about Chris' original timeline and he felt as if he was falling behind somehow.
"Okay, we really don't have time for a long discussion about this, but Bianca is a Phoenix. She's part of a clan of assassin witches. And before you freak out, Wy, she is a good person. She died for me…" His voice stalled on that and he couldn't believe he had actually said those words. He hadn't been able to say them before. It had just been too painful before, but seeing her alive in this timeline had given him hope that maybe she would survive again if they could only change things and just maybe they'd have a chance to be together again.
Wyatt just nodded hearing the passion in his brother's voice. He wouldn't argue with him. He trusted his brother's judgment. "All right. Back to why we are here. What have you learned from your other self? Do you know who took him?"
Chris shook his head frowning. "That is one secret that he is very protective of. And it's not just the fact that he doesn't trust me yet either. I think I'm slowly gaining his trust. But it seems as if that secret might be a little painful for him."
"Well being kidnapped isn't exactly what I'd call a fond memory," Piper commented angrily. It was driving her mad being so angry with a person or demon that she couldn't even put a name or a face to.
Chris thought about that statement and it cleared a few things up for him. "You two really don't know, do you?" They both looked at him in confusion and he continued. "He doesn't know who he is or that he was taken. He's lived his whole life thinking he was a demon."
"What?" Piper felt as if she might be sick at those words. They had always assumed that he knew who he was but that being possessed by The Source had warped his sense of reality.
"Honestly. I thought he was gonna have me exercised when I told him he was born a witch." Chris had to admit to himself that he had been slightly mad at his brother for not warning him about that fact but now that he knew that they were just as much in the dark as his alternate self he couldn't hold it against him.
"Did you tell him about us?" Wyatt asked quietly. A lot of things made more sense now. He had fought his brother on many occasions but neither of them had mentioned family ties. Wyatt hadn't done so because part of him was completely disgusted by what his brother had become and shamefully he hadn't wanted to admit to the family tie that was between them. He had just assumed that the darker version of his brother had felt the same way. But when they had faced off earlier that day nothing had seemed to change. He still wanted him dead.
"No, I thought that would be too much, too soon. I'm just now getting him to the point where he's opening up to me. And that brings me to something that I learned today that is very disturbing." He knew he'd have to tell them. Before they weren't really working on a time frame, but now that Dark Chris was so close to discovering the island of the Valkyries they'd have to move faster.
"More disturbing. Oh my. Maybe I should sit down for this," Piper suggested as she pulled her hand from her son's and turned to sit back on the couch. She wasn't so sure how much more of this she could take. Not only was her son evil, but he didn't even know he was her son, and now there was something even worse. How could anything be worse than that?
Chris and Wyatt followed her and Wyatt had a seat next to his mother and waited for his brother to speak. Chris on the other hand had too much pent up nervous energy to sit down, so instead he paced in front of them. "Sorry to break this to you, but it seems my other self strives to achieve even more destruction than the Wyatt of my time did."
Piper gave him a look that said she just couldn't believe it. "But you said that Wyatt destroyed most of the city and ruled with an iron fist in your timeline."
Wyatt flinched slightly but did not comment. He knew about the things his alternate self had done and he had to get used to it being spoken about. Nothing was gonna change the memories that his brother carried around of that other version of himself.
"He's trying to bring about the final battle," Chris said stopping in front of them but he didn't look up at his mother, not wanting to see the horror on her face.
"Wait, the final battle? You mean the battle between all good and evil?" Piper couldn't keep the surprise from her voice. Never had she dreamed.
"Yes and he's going to lead evil right to the Valkyries' doorstep if we don't stop him first." He looked up then, knowing he couldn't avoid the looks on their faces forever. "He almost has the coordinates of the hidden island."
"Oh my god. If he attacks it will be a bloodbath won't it?" Piper reached up covering her mouth in shock.
"At the rate he's recruiting demons, I'm afraid so," he answered her sadly. "The Valkyries aren't ready for him yet. The battle isn't supposed to happen until a time far in the future. Dad learned that when he was their prisoner." After that statement Chris looked around though with a surprised expression. "Where is Dad?"
He had truly expected his father to be there to meet him in this timeline. Part of him had feared that he wouldn't. That same old fear from his past of a father that wouldn't ever be there for him but still Leo had promised not to do that to him again.
Wyatt looked to his mother and the shared the same look that made Chris worry even more. They were hiding something. "What?" He knew he'd have to accept whatever they said but he felt a tight feeling start to grip his chest, knowing whatever it was he wouldn't like it.
"We don't know where your father is, Chris," Piper answered looking down to her hands. "He disappeared about a year ago."
The color completely drained from his face and he felt icy cold strands of anxiety running up his spine chilling him to the bone. "Disappeared."
"We think that your other self is holding him captive somewhere, but I couldn't get a straight answer from him concerning it. He said he was keeping him as a pet but that was nearly a year ago." Wyatt admitted but he knew he had to be completely truthful with his brother. "We don't even really know if he's alive. The other Elders he was with at the time are all dead and I really can't see why he'd keep him alive if he doesn't even know who he really is. I mean if Dad was alive wouldn't he have broken that news to him by now?"
It was as if a he had struck Chris with a physical blow and he could feel it as his knees started to buckle beneath him. Maybe he should have been the one to take a seat he decided as he slumped to the floor. Wyatt had just managed to reach out and grab him, slowing his descent, but Chris barely noticed as he stared blankly before him. Had he really killed his own father? Was it possible? "No," he whispered hoarsely. Somehow he had to believe that something had held his darker self back from doing that one thing. Sure he didn't know that Leo was his father but wasn't there a link between them anyway; something that would have stopped him from striking the killing blow? "I'll find out," he vowed more to himself than the others. He had to know.
"Chris, please don't do that to yourself. Just find out the information we need to save you and it will all change. You'll never have to know." Piper was so frightened of what that knowledge might do to her son. He and his father had formed such a tight bond in the past and to see that bond unravel and Chris come apart over something he had no control over… it was just too much for any of them to bear. She reached out and touched her son's cheek wanting to offer him just a little bit more comfort with that touch.
But Chris would have none of that. He pulled away feeling as if he was too disgusting and dirty for her to touch. If he had done that… if his darker self had stooped so low… not even Evil Wyatt had stooped low enough to kill his own parents. "I'm sorry, Mom. I have to know." With that he stood and backed away from her. He turned then and walked to the center of the attic not looking back at them. "When I have news I'll contact you, Wy," he called and then faded out into nothing.
"Oh, Chris," Piper said a sob being ripped from her throat as she finally let the tears go and broke down in her other son's arms.
Wyatt held his mother and stared where his brother had just stood. Even though he hated to see his brother in so much pain he understood how he felt. If he was in that position wouldn't he feel the same way?
Chris appeared in the now familiar bedchamber and let his eyesight adjust to the darkness. His darker self was still sound asleep on the bed covered in black satin sheets and he looked so peaceful. For the life of him he wanted so badly to reach out and wrap his hands around the sleeping form's throat choking the life from him. But at that moment suicide wasn't an option and that most certainly be the outcome.
So instead he let his form sink to the cavern floor next to the wall and thought of what he had learned. Did that dark creature kill his father? Could it be possible? And if he had what did that make him? Was he capable somewhere deep down inside of murdering his own father? Wouldn't it prove that he was? Please no, he thought bitterly to himself. He had always considered himself to be a decent, caring person, a good person. But if he had done that… if he was capable of that… how good a person could he really be? And even if he were able to change his past so that none of this had ever happened and his father was alive, what difference would it really make. Somewhere deep inside would he still have the capability to kill someone he loved? Tears had started to flow slowly down his cheeks as he whispered into the darkness. "I'm sorry, Dad. I really do love you." With that his head sunk down to his knees, which he had pulled up to his chest. He wasn't ready or willing to merge with his body yet. The idea of being near that disgusting thing made him want to be violently ill and he decided to hold off as long as he could to stay away from the vile creature he had become.
A/N: Well can we say "Poor Chris!" any louder? So did he kill his dad or not? We shall find out soon.