Disclaimer: Nothing in the Charmed world belongs to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: I was really worried that interest in this fic would have died out since I didn't update in forever, but I guess I was wrong. More people seem interested in it now than before. That is just awesome. Thanks everyone for continuing to read. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 16 Seeking Proof
"You know, I could have just pulled you back to my body, but I wondered just what you were up to. And what a strange sight this is. I find my other self commiserating with my most prized prisoner, who by the way has not spoken in a year, but now suddenly feels the urge to speak to you. Why exactly is that?" Dark Chris asked his voice adopting a very dangerous tone as he did.
Chris glanced down at his father, who had yet to move, and then back to his darker self. "I told you that I knew him in the past. I wanted to see if there was anything left of him. I guess he remembers me." Chris had to admit that the lie could have been better but with such short notice it was all he could come up with.
Leo glanced up at Chris and with an apologetic look in his eyes spoke up. "Yes, I remember, and if I'd known then what you really were, I'd have killed you and saved us a lot of misery." Dark Chris couldn't see that look in Leo's eyes but Chris could and even though the words were painful to hear he knew they were not true.
"Yeah well, too bad you weren't all that smart back then, now isn't it?" Chris asked playing along with the ruse then he strolled forward and through the bars that separated he and his darker self. "I'm done here, if you are ready to go," he said casually to the other version of himself.
His darker version was staring down at Leo and he shook his head coming to a decision. "If that is the case," his hand raised and a fireball formed in his palm. "Then maybe we shouldn't keep him around."
Chris' eyes widened in fear when he saw his darker self's intent and Leo hearing the flame crackle behind him just closed his eyes and lowered his head waiting for his fate. Chris hadn't wanted to believe that his darker version would really do this. It was something that he feared more than anything else he could imagine. But by the look in those obsidian eyes he knew… there was no doubt any more.
Chris' hand shot out and grasped his darker self's arm. "No!" he yelled with more than a little fear in his voice.
Dark Chris turned to face him fully and the look of suspicion on his features was plainly evident. "No?"
Chris licked his lips knowing that he had probably just sealed his own fate with that action, but there was no way he was going to stand back and watch his father die at his own hands, but still he had to try to salvage what he could. "Don't we still need him to turn the Halliwell brat?"
The flame on his hand extinguished as he watched the emotions on his other self's face. "Yes, I guess we do."
"Maybe we should start making plans then," Chris suggested motioning his darker self towards the opening of the cavern, wanting nothing more than to get him away from his father.
"I do believe that I need something from you first," Dark Chris suggested not moving from the spot.
Chris stared at him in confusion. What exactly was he asking for? "If you mean your astral projection… I can always merge with you again. It's just sort of convenient this way. At least I can look you in the face when we speak." Not to mention the fact that I can hide my thoughts and emotions better this way Chris added silently to himself.
Dark Chris slowly shook his head. "Proof," he said giving the word added extra emphasis. "You have told me many things about myself that I never knew. I want to know that you are telling the truth."
Chris blanched and knew that he would be caught out. There was just no way that he could prove the things he had said short of opening his mind to him and he wasn't willing to do that. "You want proof?"
Dark Chris nodded and Chris looked down in thought and his eyes caught sight of his father who had turned ever so slightly so he could at least peer at Chris from the corner of his eye. That's when Chris decided. "Fine. If I can prove to you that you were born a witch instead of a demon, will you trust me?"
Dark Chris moved back slightly in shock. He hadn't expected that. He had expected a downright refusal from his alter self. "How are you gonna do that?" he asked in curiosity.
"Leo, do you remember that potion you made me twenty three years ago?" Chris asked knowing his father rarely forgot anything once he learned it.
Leo nodded, not sure where his son was going with that question.
"I need you to make me some more," Chris said looking back up to his darker self.
"Why?" both Leo and Dark Chris said at the same time. Dark Chris glared at the Elder in his cage and continued on. "Why do we need a potion?"
"You say you want proof that you were born a witch and were taken by a demon. What's better proof than seeing it for yourself?" Chris answered gambling on the off chance that the new plan forming in his mind would work.
Leo turned to Chris and he could see the fear in his father's eyes but he did not let it affect the stoic look on his face. He had to get his darker self away from his father, and he'd need help to keep him that way for long enough. So what was one more trip into the past? They could always come back right before Zankou showed up.
"And let's say I agree to this idea of yours. What's to say that he won't mess the potion up and cause us to go somewhere we don't want to go?" Dark Chris answered.
"If he wants to stay alive he has no choice now does he?" Chris answered. His voice sounded cold and unfeeling but Chris felt anything but, as fear for his father twisted his insides very painfully.
Dark Chris seemed to ponder that for a moment and then nodded several times. "Get him out of there. Looks like we need to brew a potion."
An hour later both versions of Chris and Leo were in a secluded chamber in the underworld and Leo was working on creating the time traveling potion that Chris had asked for. The darker version of his son was leaning against one of the chamber walls across the room watching he and the other Chris with eyes full of distrust. Chris was leaning against the table that Leo was working at and he was pretending to supervise the potion making process.
Leo had his back turned to the Dark Chris and he whispered quietly to his son. "Chris, what are you doing this for?"
Chris turned around and started fidgeting with the potion ingredients under the guise of verifying that Leo wasn't doing anything that might mess the potion up. He whispered an answer. "I need him out of the way until they can change things. But I'm not sure I can handle him by myself. He has more power than I ever dreamed of."
"So you are gonna take him to your family. Is that wise, Chris?" Leo hissed in concern.
"If anything can contain him for the time being, it's the Power of Three. Not to mention Wyatt and a full version of you, with all of his Elder powers intact. I'll bring him back before Zankou can show up," Chris explained.
"But why, Chris? Can't you just keep putting him off until Wyatt fixes this?" Leo asked not at all sure why he wouldn't just play it cool.
Chris didn't look up and didn't answer the question immediately. After a moment of trying to decide what to say he finally settled on the truth. "You didn't see his eyes. He really would have killed you."
Leo paused in what he was doing and he found it hard to block out the tears that threatened to swamp him. "I know that, Chris," he whispered, his voice slightly shaky. "You shouldn't have stopped him."
Chris' hands began to tremble as he fingered the ginger root he had just picked up. His father would have died to protect his secret. There was no doubt in his mind. But he could have never lived with himself if that had happened. "If you think I could have stood back and watched you die, then you don't know me at all."
Leo reached out taking the ginger root from his hand and let his fingers brush his son's hand trying to convey assurance through his touch. "I know you couldn't," he whispered, "but you can't blame a father for wanting to save his son."
Those words brought a smile to Chris' features, despite the dire situation they faced. "Thanks, Dad."
Dark Chris had been watching them but could not hear the whispered conversation. "What is it with you two?"
Chris and Leo both turned to face the dark presence and neither knew how to answer that.
"You act as thick as thieves. And I for one would never willingly befriend an Elder and especially not the father of the Charmed Brat," he growled angrily becoming more suspicious with each second.
"I told you I respected him in a way," Chris admitted. "I can't help it if I feel like I owe him something. I would still be stuck in the past if it wasn't for him."
"Well I don't respect anyone. And if you and I are gonna become one person eventually you are gonna have to get over that character flaw," Dark Chris said in a threatening manner.
Chris bit back the angry retort he wanted to say and just nodded. "Fine. You don't have to worry about me."
"Is that stuff about ready, Elder?" Dark Chris spat out angrily, beginning to wonder just how wise an idea this really was.
Leo had just added the last ingredient and was about to bottle up the potion. For a split second he considered ruining the potion to keep them from going through with Chris' plan. It was a dangerous one and Leo wasn't sure if he could support it. But one glance towards his son and he could see the determination in his eyes. Chris was the one risking the most with this stunt and he was doing it for his father. That had to count for something. "Yes, it's about ready," he called turning back to the potion and bottling the first bottle. "There's enough for three potions here. That gives you one to go back with and one to come back to our time and one extra just in case something goes wrong."
Dark Chris moved forward and stood right next to them. "How kind of you, but not really necessary since you are going with us."
Chris looked up in shock and began to argue with his Darker self but just as he opened his mouth to do so he felt a pulling sensation and was yanked roughly back into his body.
"That was not part of the agreement," he complained noisily inside his own mind.
"Shut up, if you don't want me to kill him, that is," Dark Chris countered back.
Chris immediately slammed his mind shut, not willing to risk his father's life.
"How does this work?" Dark Chris asked Leo picking up one of the potion vials on the worktable.
Leo stared at the darker version of his son and shook his head. Things were not going as they were supposed to at all. "What if I refuse to help you?" he asked looking at the dark being defiantly.
"You like the other version of me don't you?" Dark Chris asked knowing that something was between the two of them; otherwise his prisoner would still be a broken soul back in his dungeon.
Leo did not answer as he waited for an answer to his question.
Dark Chris smirked knowing he had hit on something there. "Have you ever seen what the spirit of the Source is capable of, Elder? You're pitiful friend thinks he's safe inside of me with the walls he's built around his consciousness. What he doesn't realize is that I've been holding the Source back, because I was curious. If I so choose he'll be ripped to shreds. I don't really need him, you see."
Leo swallowed hard hearing that and let his face drop looking down to the floor between them. "I need to draw a Triquetra on the wall and then you just throw the potion into it while thinking about where you want to be."
"That's it?" Dark Chris asked not sure whether the old man was lying or not.
Leo nodded. "But you'll need him to get to where you want to go. You don't know where or when he's talking about."
"Humph, guess I should keep him around for a bit longer, now shouldn't I?" With that Dark Chris strode over next to a blank cavern wall that was roughly flat. "Draw your damn symbol here."
Leo picked up a piece of chalk from the table and walked to the wall doing as he was instructed. Once the Triquetra was finished he stood back, but made sure to pocket the other two vials of potion himself. He didn't want to leave their only method of time travel in the hands of a monster.
Dark Chris didn't seem to notice as he stared at the symbol on the wall. He had seen it before on numerous occasions. It was a witch's symbol. One that spoke of great power. Power that he had been trying to defeat for years now. How ironic that he was now using that precise symbol of power for his own purposes. Part of him didn't want to do this, didn't want to know the truth. That was the part of him that was controlled by the Source and the part that didn't want to be anything more than the demon he was raised to be. But another part of him, that was buried so much deeper was burning inside to see where he had come from and what other greater powers might be available to him if he opened up to the supposed witch inside of him. That part of him was actually hoping that his alter version was speaking the truth. And that part of him was winning out right now as his hand clenched the potion vial and he ran his thumb along the smooth glass that shown a bright blue which was almost phosphorescent in color.
With one last sigh he spoke to the presence within his mind. "Take me where we need to be." Then his hand shot out tossing the vial at the Triquetra and was amazed to see the outline shine a brilliant blue to match the color of the potion and then the insides lit up leaving a portal reaching out into what he did not know.
"What are you waiting for?" Chris asked within his mind.
Dark Chris motioned for Leo to walk ahead and he followed only a pace behind and to the left. As they passed through the portal he felt a confusing emotion bubble up inside him as if he had always been meant to do just that. It almost felt comforting, something Dark Chris was not at all familiar with.
Chris felt that old familiar feeling of stepping through the portal and as the wave of confusion hit his alter self he reached out his senses and projected a figure right before them, leaving the body behind again. He was the first one to immerge from the portal on the other side and landed rather roughly on the attic floor a few feet from the bare wall that was glowing with the portal. Astral Projection while traveling through a time portal was not the easiest feat to accomplish.
He took in the fact that his entire family was standing at different places around the attic staring at him in both shock and confusion, but he didn't have time for that right then as his father from the future and his own true body stepped through the portal behind him. Once the Triquetra had vanished behind them Chris swiped his hand out and called, "Crystal cage!" He was praying that his family's crystals were near by and was relieved to see them fly from their box in the corner and land on the floor surrounding his darker self. Leo had stepped back seeing what Chris was doing and managed not to get caught in the cage himself. Then he rushed around the cage and helped Chris up off the floor. "Quick thinking, there, Chris."
Dark Chris immediately formed a fireball and threw it at the cage, which only served to give him an electric shock for his trouble. "You rotten son of a …" he started to yell but Piper cut him off.
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" she yelled over him glancing down at her young children who were both in Wyatt's playpen. Wyatt's shield had immediately went up the moment that the dark presence had entered the attic and it was surrounding both he and his baby brother.
"I can see we made it before Zankou," Chris stated looking at his younger self who looked to be about six months old. "But not by much. Good timing. How much longer do you think it will be before he shows up, Wyatt?"
"Excuse me, Chris, but wasn't the plan that you stay in the future until we could defeat Zankou and keep you from turning evil?" Paige asked in a highly sarcastic voice.
Chris glanced at Future Leo and couldn't tell them what he suspected would have happened if they had stayed in that time. "Circumstances change."
The grown version of Wyatt had watched in awe as both his brother and his father had stepped through that portal and he was almost in complete shock. "Dad." His voice trembled slightly with the word.
Future Leo turned to his oldest son and a bright smile lit his features. "Wyatt." He strode across the attic and wrapped his son in a large hug and Wyatt could not hold back the tears that rushed to his eyes.
Once they pulled apart and Wyatt had gotten his tears under control he looked to Chris whom was standing back just smiling at the reunion. "Chris, you promised…" he said with a slight amount of reprimand to his voice.
Chris just shrugged. "You should know by now how good a liar I am, Wyatt. You didn't think I'd leave him a prisoner did you?"
An angry growl could be heard from the crystal cage. "I knew something was off. This has all been a trap. What exactly are you?"
Chris turned to his darker self and sighed. "I'm exactly what I told you I was. I'm you from a different timeline. A very different timeline. One in which you were not a evil monster possessed by the Source."
Future Leo moved over next to Chris nervous about what was being said. "Are you sure you should tell him the truth?"
"Yes, I am. I'm fed up with all the secrecy and lies. I've lived with them for too many years now and he's never been fed anything but, so now it's time for all that to change," Chris said with steel determination running through his words.
The present version of Leo stepped up to Chris' other side and glanced over at his future self. "Should I assume that things didn't go so well for me in the future?" he asked slightly afraid of the condition his other self seemed to be in.
Dark Chris had to cackle at that. "That happens when you are held prisoner for a year. Get used to the sight, you'll be living it eventually."
"Not if I can help it, he won't," Chris spat back at Dark Chris.
"What is with you and these damned, goodie-goodie witches?" Dark Chris bellowed in anger.
"Maybe I should introduce you to someone," Chris said walking away from the cage and over to the playpen. Piper smiled knowing what her son was planning on doing and just backed away letting him.
Little Wyatt had yet to lower his shield but the moment he saw Chris approach he lowered it and called out, "K-wiss!" in utter delight.
"Hey, buddy. I need to see the little guy for a minute." With that he picked up his younger self and tickled him slightly as he turned towards the crystal cage.
"I'd like you to meet someone very special. This little guy here grows up to be someone of a large amount of importance in our world. Us!" The last word was spoken in the strongest voice Chris could muster.
Dark Chris snorted at that but there was no mistaking the aura of familiar power he felt from the child. It was the same feeling he had felt when the other Chris had merged with him in the future. It was his own aura.
Chris just nodded. "You may deny it but both of us can feel it, so don't try to fool me even if you are fooling yourself." Chris then turned and placed his younger self back in the playpen on the pillows he had been propped up on. Wyatt again reached out to his brother pleading for him to take him and Chris gladly complied. "And this little guy is someone even more important to us." He swung his brother around eliciting a giggle from the child and faced the cage again. "This is our big brother and not too long ago he saved my life." With that Chris stared at the older version of his brother and smiled. "And now he's trying to save our soul."
Wyatt blushed slightly and lowered his gaze.
Dark Chris stared at the small child in his alter self's arms and confusing thoughts swamped his mind. He had never thought about the fact that if what his other self said was true he might actually have family somewhere out there.
Chris hugged his small brother close and turned around placing him back in the playpen. "Keep him safe okay, Wyatt," he called softly but loud enough for everyone present to hear.
Chris turned to see pure rage envelop his other self. "You lie."
Chris turned to his mother and aunts at that. "Am I really that pig headed?"
Piper shook her head denying that her son was anything but perfect but both her sisters nodded vehemently. Piper saw them out of the corner of her eye and gave them both scathing looks.
Phoebe couldn't help but commenting. "Piper, he lived in this time for months and nearly drug us ragged going out and vanquishing every demon he could find."
"And how many times did we tell him to lighten up and take a rest?" Paige added knowingly.
"Thanks," Chris said rolling his eyes and turning back to face his darker self. "Anyhow, I told you that you were born a witch and that I was raised by witches, well that's not one hundred percent true."
Dark Chris nodded knowing that what he had been told had to have been a lie. "You were actually born half witch and half Whitelighter." With that Chris tried something that he wasn't sure would work but since shimmering had worked while being a projection, he figured this would too. With that he formed into thousands of tiny lights and then reformed across the room between both Leos again. "God! That felt good. You don't know how weird it feels for a Witchlighter to shimmer."
Dark Chris swallowed hard seeing this feat and his head bobbed back in forth in denial.
Chris though found it impossible to truly feel pity for the creature before him. Even if he was himself, he had tried to kill his father and that was something he didn't think he could ever forgive. "Now, if you don't mind, I need to start making some plans with my family."
A/N: Ha, ha! Chris can be so vindictive when he truly wants to be, even to himself. Anyhow, anyone see that little trip to the past coming?