It was well past five in the morning when Chris finally orbed back from Charlotte's apartment. Nobody had spoken about the change to her hair, all too unsure about what it could mean. When Chris had taken her back home, she had said little until reaching her bedroom, her hand caught on the doorframe but refusing to face him.

"Am I going to die?"

Her voice had been so quiet, cracking on the last word like she was scared to say it. His first instinct had been to say no; promise her that she wouldn't die and everything was going to be fine. But he knew she would know he was lying, so he settled for the truth.

"I don't know,"

It tasted bitter in his mouth.

He had stayed with her until he was sure she was asleep, not knowing the impact that another sleepless night would do to her. When her quiet conversation had petered out into even, calmed breaths, he had whipped up a small sleeping aid with what she had in her kitchen cupboards. For someone who openly admitted that she hated to cook, and had no idea how to make potions; Charlotte had subconsciously managed to stock her cabinets with witch-inclined ingredients. He had carefully spilled the potion around the doorway to her room, ensuring that she would sleep soundly and without nightmares. He had thrown in a hint of a protection spell into it, but he was confident that nobody was aware of her powers as of yet. Cookie had watched him the entire time, perched upon the bookshelf, his gaze not leaving for a second.

"You're a weird ass familiar, you know that?" Chris said. Familiars were usually there as a comfort and a guide, but as far as he could tell, Cookie seemed uninterested in either job. The slight glimmer of magic in his aura, however, was undeniable.

Cookie had growled, but stayed where he was. Once Chris was sure Charlotte would be safe, he had returned to the manor, but he had no intent of sleep. The manor was empty and silent, but Chris only found it to be comforting.

Still bubbling with too much energy, Chris made his way into the kitchen; surprised to find his mother sitting at the counter with her head bent and a large book open in front of her.

"Mom?"

Piper jumped and slammed the book shut, nearly knocking over her coffee cup as she did so. She wiped her eyes hurriedly and looked at the clock.

"Why are you still up?"

"Charlie was kind of freaking out, so I stayed with her until she fell asleep," Chris admitted. He reached for a mug of his own and poured himself a cup of tea, using whatever teabags his mother had left on the counter. Piper, who was subtly trying to edge the large book off the counter and out of sight, froze when Chris turned and rested his hand on it.

"Mom, what's this?"

Piper looked down at the intricately carved cover of the book and sighed as she rubbed a hand over it before letting it open. Inside were rows of pictures, each of Chris. For a moment, Chris was confused why she would try and hide a photo album, but the more he looked, he suddenly realised that it wasn't him in the images.

"Oh,"

Piper lightly stroked one of the images; obviously taken without other Chris' permission. He was frowning at the camera, halfway through what was no doubt a warning not to take it.

"We didn't know who you were then," Piper admitted, "Paige was just trying out her new camera and he got so angry at her for taking it. We thought he was just camera shy,"

Piper looked across the remaining images on the page, all clearly taken without Chris' knowledge. One of the side of his face, far too zoomed in and over exposed. One of him lingering behind Phoebe, who was making an exaggerated pout to the camera.

"You know, I can never work out how it took me so long to know it was you," Piper admitted as she flipped the pages, "You look so much like me,"

The next page of photos must have been taken after the sisters had figured out his identity. He was smiling now; his clothing kempt and his hair finally seeming to have been cut. Piper was clinging to his arm in one image; his aunts holding up a 'Our Awesome Nephew" sharpie sign over his sleeping form on the couch in another.

"Why didn't you ever show me these?" Chris asked, resisting the urge to pull the album away from his mother and flip through it on his own; to memorize every detail of his other self. Piper sniffled softly and laughed.

"I thought it might be too creepy for you. Once we found out who you were, I just wanted to have pictures of you. I swore to the other you that I'd keep them hidden until you'd found out about it on your own. Apparently a photo album with images of your alternate dimension self could be a bad way to find out about things," she joked.

She flipped through the pages with ease, clearly having done this more than once. She stopped on the last image of the album and smiled.

"This one's my favourite,"

Chris looked down at the image; a pink-faced infant bundled in a soft blue blanket. The neat golden cursive underneath read: Christopher Perry Halliwell- Our Miracle. Spurred by the image, he cupped his mug in his hands and licked his bottom lip.

"Hey mom? Why did you make my middle name Perry?"

Piper looked up from the album, "I thought you knew already, Peanut. The other you told us his name was Chris Perry, we assumed it was already your middle name. No idea where it came from," she admitted, "but the family tree is packed full of weird names. Be lucky it was Milton or Clarence," she joked.

When Chris didn't laugh, she reached out and placed her hand atop his, her mood sobering up.

"Okay… what aren't you telling me?"

Chris absently rubbed his free finger along the rim of his mug, casually avoiding his mother's eyes.

"Charlotte's last name is Perry,"

He didn't hear any obvious sounds of distress, but still avoided Piper's gaze, "I first thought it was coincidence, but since I know we worked together in the other future, I'm pretty sure I just used her last name. I don't know if Other me planned it somehow, so that maybe I would go looking for her in this life; or if I just made the decision spur of the moment… either way, I don't think it was my real name. I just thought you should know,"

When his mother's silence had stretched out far longer than he had ever heard it, he finally broke his gaze from the countertop and braved a look up. Piper was staring at him, her face unreadable, but her eyes dry. For a moment, he thought she was angry; disappointed that she had given her son a name that didn't belong to him. Instead, she slid off her stool and brought him close for a hug, rubbing his back and clinging to him like she was the only thing that could make him stay there.

"Thank you for telling me," she whispered finally. She moved to pull away, but Chris pulled her back, unsure how long it had been since he had hugged his mother. He'd forgotten how small she was; it was easy to forget when you were cowering under her almighty wrath. There were so many times in his childhood when he'd messed up and been terrified of the repercussions, only for Piper to sweep him up and tell him that every mistake just brought you closer to the right path.

When he finally broke the embrace, he felt the weight of his secret lift from his chest. As much as he had wanted to keep this secret, knowing that now he had others to help him put his mind at ease. He took the seat beside his mother, who was stifling a yawn behind her hand.

"You should sleep,"

"So should you," she replied, a quirk in her eyebrow and 'mom tone' creeping into her voice. Chris shook his head and looked out the window, seeing the palest light of dawn barely kissing the horizon. He had slept so late the day before, not to mention the adrenaline that pumped through his veins. He had no idea how long the Elders would take getting the information about the Time Keeper to them, but he hoped they would take Wyatt's threat to heart and not waste any moment.

"The Elders are assholes," Chris said, not caring that the statement might seem out of place in the conversation. His mother didn't snap at his language, instead laughed and emptied her cold tea into the sink and rinsed the mug.

"They used to be good people, Chris. I know it doesn't seem like it, but there was a time when…" Piper shook her head, "A time when we trusted them beyond anything else. They might have been useless at times, and some tried to deny your father and I a life together; but they were good. I don't know what changed, or even when it changed, really."

She sighed heavily and ran a hand through her salt and peppered hair, "But no matter what, Chris… we won't let the Elders take her away. I don't know what it's like for a Time Keeper Up There, but I promise that we will do whatever it takes to make sure she stays here, and stays safe."

"Thanks, Mom,"

Piper pressed a kiss to Chris' forehead and ruffled his hair, "I'm going to bed, okay? You should do the same."

When she disappeared up the stairs, Chris reached for the photo album and seized his chance to flip through it. It was strange to see himself, but the photos also brought a strange sense of comfort, and almost closure. When he reached the end of the album, he busied his hands with his journal, pouring over the new pages to drink in every detail. Even with the new pages, however, much of his writing with sketchy. Whether there had been no time to properly document his attempts, or if he had kept them a secret out of necessity; there was little about his and Charlotte's attempts at bringing him into the past.

When the morning sunshine was creeping across the counter and his eyes burned from staring at the pages, searching for any extra hidden meaning; he tucked the book into his pocket and orbed to his room.

He'd just close his eyes for a little. Just until the Elders came back.


"Chris? Chriiiiiiis. CHRIS!"

The sudden weight on Chris' body made him open his eyes in shock, automatically flinging out his hand and sending the intruder into the nearest wall. His eyes adjusting to the bleary morning, Chris groaned when he saw Wyatt rubbing the back of his head where he was sprawled on the floor.

"Jesus, Chris. Was that necessary?"

"Was jumping on me necessary?" he fried back, looking to the clock for the time. It had just gone nine am; meaning he had managed a pathetic three hours of sleep. His first thought went to Charlotte, but his phone lay silent and neglected on the nightstand and he didn't want to risk waking her. Wyatt, unfortunately, wasn't silent.

"I think you rattled my brain,"

"Pretty sure you're used to that," Chris joked as he ran a hand through his hair and spiked it up more strange directions. He yawned into his fist and raised an eyebrow when Wyatt lingered against the wall.

"Any reason you're standing there like that?" Chris asked, his tone tinged with concern. Wyatt shrugged one shoulder and leaned back on the wall, propping one foot against it and folding his arms in an attempt to appear casual.

"What the Elders said yesterday about not being scared of you. They're jackasses; you're even scarier than me, you know,"

Chris snorted and kicked off his blankets before moving to open his heavy curtains. His mother had insisted they invest in some after neighbours had complained of "late night science experiments" between Wyatt and Chris' rooms that caused unnatural blue light to spill into other people's windows.

"Wy, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but really, I'm not worried. You could level a city with one wrong hand gesture; I'm cool being the nerdy one, less pressure that way,"

The joke fell flat in front of Wyatt, who narrowed his eyes, "Don't say that. I've seen you take out a dozen demons with one spell; your slapped together potions are better than anything I've ever tried out of the Book. Just because I've got crazy powers doesn't mean I'm anything special. Hell, you're half Elder,"

Chris rolled his eyes at his brother's insistence. This wasn't a new argument for the two of them; and Chris would freely admit that in the past, he was more sensitive about the topic. Growing up as the brother of the Twice Blessed and the son of the most powerful Charmed One was a heavy weight on itself, but to be hidden even further under the shadow of himself from another time was another knife in the coffin. It was only recently that he had pulled himself out from under the weight, only to realize that the only person holding it there was himself. Admittedly, many demons viewed him as less of a threat, and he had cleaned them up without a second thought. It was nice to be underestimated; it made the vanquish more fulfilling somehow.

"Wyatt," Chris said firmly, "We don't need to do this anymore, okay? The Elders can underestimate me all they like; it will make it way more entertaining when one day we kick their asses because they pushed it too far. I don't see it as the heir and the spare anymore, and I never should have,"

He remembered the day he had uttered the phrase; just an angry teenager who had watched his brother be celebrated as a hero, the almighty Twice Blessed. His mother had been horrified, but the look on Wyatt's face had haunted Chris for weeks until he had finally apologised, swearing that it had been the heat of the moment and he didn't mean it. But Wyatt, true to his nature, had never found a way to let go of it; and Chris knew it was because he was often overlooked by the magic community in general.

The 'half Elder' debate was one of Wyatt's favourite tricks to whip out when the power struggle debate came around; insisting that Chris had to be more powerful because he had Elder blood in his veins. Chris always shot down the idea, each time with a different yet plausible excuse for why it didn't work; but Wyatt never took any of them lying down.

If he was honest with himself, Chris took comfort in knowing that his brother would fight tooth and nail to insist that he and Chris were the same. It was just annoying when he did it at early hours when Chris wasn't in peak form to defend.

"What about if-"

Chris threw one of his pillows at Wyatt's face, catching him off guard and punching the air when it smacked right into him before he could orb away. Wyatt caught the pillow from the air as it dropped uselessly to the ground and levelled Chris with a glare that lacked punch by the curve of his lips.

"Fine, I'll drop it. I just hate the way they talk to you,"

Chris chose not to respond to the comment, knowing that it would just spark further debate. When Wyatt still didn't leave, Chris waited patiently for his brother to keep talking, knowing that Wyatt was letting something fester under the surface.

"Were you going to tell me about the flashbacks? And about Charlotte?"

Chris tensed; he'd expected this question, but he hadn't been prepared.

"I wanted to know what it was before I worried you," he said honestly, "I didn't know if there was something wrong with me. But yes, I was planning on telling you. Charlotte is new to magic, and you're a little more in touch with the whitelighter side than I am, so I was hoping you'd be able to guide her. Besides, she's completely in awe about this magic thing, maybe you could show off your Mr. Twice Blessed powers for her?"

Wyatt cracked a smile and Chris relaxed, grateful that his brother saw the lighter side of things.

"Why did you wake me up?" Chris asked, suddenly remembering why they were even having this conversation. Wyatt perked up and threw the pillow back onto Chris' bed.

"Right, the Elders left the stuff about Charlotte, Mom and Dad are already going through it. There's a lot, we need a nerd,"

Chris shook his head as Wyatt ducked out of the room, but reached for a change of clothing before hurrying down the stairs. He wanted to know as much as possible before Charlotte woke up, hopefully enough that he could explain what was going on, how her powers were affecting her, and what they could do to fix things. He headed into the living room and stopped in the doorway.

"Wow?"

Dozens of heavy tomes stood stacked on the coffee table, teetering on the brink of collapse. His mother had one open in her lap and was pouring through it with Leo by her side, her gaze moving up for a brief moment as Chris entered the room.

"Come on in, Peanut. We're just getting started,"

Chris reached for the first journal he saw and flicked to the opening page. The parchment paper was yellowed with age, the splotched black ink filling the paper from top to bottom. Chris scanned through it quickly, catching sight of the phrases "abomination" and "a threat to the balance of the universe".

"Great," he mumbled to himself as he sank into one of the couches. Wyatt had squished himself into the single chair and was absently flicking through a journal, making faces as he read. Confident in his family's ability to get things done, Chris focused on his own information, reaching for a notepad and paper to continue his list of information about Charlotte. As he skimmed the pages, a sick feeling crept into his stomach. The journal he had selected seemed to contain a firsthand account of the Time Keepers' creation, and the eventual issues. Though he had already known about the problems the Time Keepers had faced with their powers, the graphic details of their suffering were confronting.

In the heat of the war for magic, the Powers of Good had known they were losing the battle; and had arranged for the creation of the Time Keepers. What the textbook Chris had found earlier didn't state, was that there had been multiple pushes from almost all magical beings at the time to stop the creation almost as soon as the idea was presented. Obviously none of them had worked and Powers of Good had created the Time Keepers anyway; but according to the journal, nothing about their creation had been easy, or right.

The Good Powers had taken sands from the time stream to create the Time Keepers, but they had severely underestimated how powerful it would make the witches they exposed to it. What had begun as an attempt to get the upper hand over the demonic powers by knowing their next moves, or the outcome out their own; had instead created a power that was too much for the host.

Most Time Keepers died within hours of being created, their screams drowned out by the sounds of war. Many of the ones who managed to survive were still subject to horrific side effects, notably powerful migraines and loss of power and body control; and eventual insanity. More than a dozen witches never woke from their trances when required to seek out information about the future, while there were six orally documented cases of Time Keepers who became lost in the time streams and were never found.

Some of the more graphic descriptions made Chris' stomach turn, thinking about what could happen if Charlotte's powers grew out of control. He was sure the Elders had some way of keeping the Time Keepers together, but whether or not he trusted whatever it was they gave them was another story. He turned the page, not sure if he could handle reading anything more about the slow deterioration of most of the Time Keepers. He skimmed through the next few pages until he found the end of the magic war.

When Good Magic successfully won the war for magic and the Upper Realm, it was unanimously decided that the Time Keepers would need to be removed, due to the serious repercussions their presence had caused. Though many of their uses of power had been insignificant to the time stream, those on the side of Good Magic were warned that the resulting ripples would have unknown side effects. The remaining Time Keepers were disposed of in the most humane way possible, and were laid to rest with the causalities of the war. Despite the serious nature of their powers, it was decided by one of the First Witches that one Time Keeper was to be kept alive in case their powers were ever needed again. The Time Keeper would be kept under strict supervision by the highest order of magical beings-

Chris skimmed down the page, already aware of the following information. He stopped at the very last sentence, intrigued.

In order to make sure the Time Keeper was safe, and there would be no unnecessary battles to try and steal the power, those who had knowledge of the Time Keepers were relieved of their memories. The Time Keepers eventually faded into a myth of the magic war, but still manage to leave a mark.

Time Keepers who bore children during the Magic War are said to have been the beginnings of the power of Sight. Though the Time Keeper powers were not genetically transferrable, the residual energy from the womb of a female Time Keeper left enough of an imprint on a child to pass on the ability to see the past, present, and future.

"Aunt Phoebe," Chris mumbled to himself.

"Chris?"

He looked up, unaware of how deeply immersed in the text he had become. What had started as an uncomfortable ache in his gut had progressed to a full sickness that tightened his chest and dropped a weight into his stomach. Wyatt was watching him carefully, one hand clutched around the book he had been reading.

"The Elders kept a record of every encounter they had with the two previous Time Keepers. Turns out they haven't had them since the beginning though,"

Leo frowned and moved away from where he was sitting with Piper to crouch beside his son, peering at the text.

"The Time Keeper was passed into the hands of the Elders over four hundred years ago during the Winter Solstice; when it was determined by the Angel of Destiny that the previous overseers were abusing the Time Keeper's powers and trying to influence Destiny for their own gain. The first act of the Elders was to monitor the first transfer of the Time Keeper powers into the new host, a man named Alexander, as Nathaniel had suffered great pain in the hands of his past carers and was succumbing to the consequences of his poorly controlled power,"

"If the Elders haven't had the Time Keepers forever, who has?" Wyatt asked, "I thought Chris said they were given to the highest level of magical being; is that not the Elders?"

Leo rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and sighed, "Well, there are a lot of different hierarchies in the magical realms. "Highest Form of Good Power" is a subjective term that really could have been decided by whoever last had the Time Keeper. The Power of Three is technically one of the highest magical powers right now, but the Elders never made any effort to even tell them that a Time Keeper existed,"

Leo hadn't even tried to conceal the bitterness in his tone, but continued nonetheless,

"If Charlotte's powers are as old as the creation of magic and the war for power; back then, the highest form of good magic would have been the original witches; the ones who fought the demons and banished them to the Underworld. After that, the Time Keeper could have ended up with almost anyone who was considered trustworthy enough,"

Chris spared a glance at his notes, just in case he had somehow missed some small tidbit of information. When nothing of value jumped out at him, he sighed and slammed the journal closed with more force than he had intended. It had been easy to assume that the Elders had taken watch of Nathaniel and Alexander, but to know that there had been others; some of whom might have abused the Time Keeper's powers for their own gain, did nothing to quell the ache in his gut.

"I have a question," Wyatt spoke up, but he fixed his younger brother with a concerned glance, knowing without having to be told how he was feeling.

"It says in here that when the Elders were given possession of Alexander, they were told about what he could and couldn't do, just in case the Elders ever needed to make use of his powers. It says that even though the Elders wanted to use Alexander to predict upcoming dangers, he wouldn't always tell them because the events were a 'fixed point in the timeline' and the Elders would probably cause more damage if they tried to change it. I think maybe they were trying to find a loophole in what Alexander could and couldn't do by doing it themselves, but he wouldn't let them,"

"Well what's your question?"

"What do they mean by fixed point?" Wyatt asked, "I thought you weren't meant to reverse or prevent anything if you time travelled; but does that mean that Aunt Phoebe's visions aren't always meant to be prevented?"

Chris placed a sticky note on the book he had finished taking notes from and rubbed against the hard cover thoughtfully, "I think time travel is a lot more complex than we've ever thought about, but it's easier to just assume that if you accidentally time travel, you should be constantly keeping track of what you do. Obviously I was able to stop whatever demon turned you evil and everything worked out okay; but maybe there are things that need to happen. I saw something in here," Chris flicked back through his notes, looking for the page numbers he had jotted down.

"Found it. Blah blah blah, Time Keepers were given the power to see, alter, and walk through time; which was an unexpected side effect of using the sands of time to create them. Though it was clear that Time Keepers were powerful, it became apparent that there were things that even they could not change. These became known as fixed points, and if Time Keepers were to interfere, the universe would rearrange itself to accommodate the necessary moment in time; which would further result in catastrophic consequences. A notable case of this was documented from oral history of a witness to the creation of the Time Keepers; when a loved one of the Keepers was murdered in the war and the Time Keeper used their powers to bring them back to life. The resulting ripples in the time stream caused massive death counts and a split in the fabric of the reality. The incident was rectified by the Angel of Destiny, who gave back the missing soul to Death. This was the first known encounter of Destiny and Death to the Time Keepers, and is said to have spurred their disapproval of the beings. To this day, Destiny and Death view the Time Keepers as an imbalance to the nature of the universe, but have expressed their understanding of why the powers have been contained for future use. The beings have warned, however, that if a Time Keeper interferes with their purpose in life, they will take immediate and permanent action to handle the situation,"

"…and all of that means?"

Chris rested the book on his thighs and frowned, "It means Charlie's powers aren't ever to interfere with what is destined to happen. If someone has to die, she can't save them. If something is destined to come to pass, she isn't allowed to change it just because it might be a bad outcome. A fixed point is something that even if you meddled with a thousand things around it, it would stay the same,"

Piper nodded in understanding, remembering all too well having to let Phoebe walk away from someone she cared about who was about to die. Destiny wasn't something anyone should fiddle with, let alone directly stand in the way of. Prue had learned her lesson with death not long before she had been taken by it herself. Some things were always meant to happen, even if it was only to forge the path for something else.

The unexpected jingle of orbs caught the attention of everyone in the room, who expected to see Paige. Instead, the tall and white-robed figure of Kellan appeared his hands behind his back and his head slightly bowed. Piper stood up, prepared to challenge anything he had to say and not willing to take anything the Elders had sent him for lying down. Clearly expecting her reaction, Kellan raised one hand and stepped back.

"Piper, I'm not here on the orders of the Elders, in fact, if they knew I was here they would not be happy with me. I'm here about the host-Charlotte," he corrected without prompting, "I'm here about Charlotte,"

"Why?"

Chris wanted to trust Kellan, he really did. He had heard and experienced great things from the Elder; it had been Kellan who had come to him not long after he had found out about his other self and offered his assistance should Chris ever need it.

Kellan held out the hand he still clasped behind his back to reveal a small vial of purple liquid.

"It's the potion the Elders used to contain Alexander's power. It's very potent, she will only need a drop every few days; but it should help the powers become more accustomed to her body instead of trying to fight for control,"

"And why didn't they bring this to us when they brought all of this?" Piper asked as she gestured to the books. Kellan looked to the floor, his face a sombre mask.

"When I joined the Elders, it was because I thought I would be able to make a difference in the lives of the magical community; but instead I have found myself surrounded by people who are… not what I expected. They felt that since Charlotte wasn't given her powers on their schedule, she should not be privy to their assistance. But I've seen what the powers are doing to her…" he paused again, taking time to compose himself.

"Alexander was a good man; and I was fortunate enough to be considered important enough to know of his existence. I don't want everything he worked for to be in vain,"

Piper walked over and gently took the vial from his hands and set it on the table. She reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, unable to keep away the mothering look on her face.

"Kellan… what else did you come here to tell us?"

He looked up in surprise, clearly not having expected Piper to ask something like that. She smiled, "I have two boys, I know the 'I'm keeping a secret' face. Is it about Charlotte?"

Kellan looked up at the ceiling and then back to Piper, gesturing for her to come close as he dropped his voice to a whisper. Chris strained to hear the conversation, edging across the couch.

"I know that the Time Keeper powers are dangerous, but Chris said Charlotte in the other timeline was more than capable of handling even more power than she possesses right now, with very little symptoms. To see her deteriorate so quickly is.. confusing,"

"But it happened to the other Time Keepers," Chris interrupted, holding up a book to prove his point, "A lot of them went crazy,"

The words hurt to say, but if Kellan was going where he thought he was going, Chris wanted to make sure their bases were covered.

"They went crazy because they weren't prepared for the power; Charlotte was born to be able to handle them in some way. I'm not saying she shouldn't be experiencing some symptoms, but everything that's happening to her is happening far too fast. It's unnatural,"

"What are you saying?" Piper asked.

"He's saying that whatever is happening to Charlotte isn't just about her powers. It's something different; maybe something worse," Chris supplied, sick to his stomach at the thought.

Kellan nodded, "That potion should help her with her sleeping; it should stop her slipping into the time streams without warning, but… there is something else wrong with her. And I hope you can figure out what it is in time,"

Piper looked at the potion in her hand and thought of the young- too young- innocent girl who had been thrown into this without warning. She looked back to Kellan and pocketed the vial.

"We will. Thank you for coming to us, Kellan. Is there anything else?"

The Elder spared another terrified glance towards the ceiling, but there was no tremble in his voice when he spoke.

"I have stood by and let my fellow Elders do a lot of questionable things, Piper; but what Chris said about wanting to remove Wyatt from the timeline, he's right. It will always count, and it was a direct violation of the rules laid out for the Time Keeper. Had Alexander erased Wyatt from the timeline, he would have faced unimaginable consequences, and the Elders would have known that. They had planned to blatantly abuse the rules given to them when they took responsibility of Alexander. I know none of these actions came to pass in either timeline, but I feel like I need to warn you that the Elders Up There right now… they would still abuse their power if given the chance,"

The last words came out heavy and flat, not a spark of life in his eyes as he finished. Leo knew that Kellan's words would be punishable by a soul recycle; that the Elder had sacrificed his powers and his memory to warn them of what they had all known for a long time now. The Elders were no longer the paragons of good that they had been when the Time Keeper became their responsibility; and they would need to do everything they could to keep Charlotte out of their hands.

"Thank you, Kellan," Leo said quietly, wanting to acknowledge the sacrifice the young Elder had made for them. Kellan offered Leo a warm, accepting smile before he orbed away. Those in the living room fell into a respectful silence; well aware that the Elders would take Kellan's perceived betrayal seriously, and they would waste no time in punishing him.

The chime of their grandfather clock broke them away from their silence; the lilting chimes a strange happiness against the sombre mood. Twelve chimes echoed in the room before the clock fell silent, making Chris frown. He hadn't taken any notice of the time, too buried in all of the knowledge he had gained in such a short amount of time. His phone still remained dark and untouched, which now put him on edge.

"I'm going to check on Charlotte,"

He had orbed away before anyone could protest; taking the potion with him and unwilling to admit aloud that the information he had gathered was eating away at him and he needed to know of Charlotte was okay. Despite the events, he still couldn't bring himself to orb into her apartment unannounced. His key fit snug against the lock and the door opened under his touch.

"Charlie?"

The apartment was shrouded in darkness; heavy blankets thrown up against the windows and an eerie silence coating everything in a thick fog. Charlotte's bedroom door was ajar, but the rumpled bed inside was empty; the coffee table was bare except for Charlotte's cell phone sitting precariously on the edge.

"Charlie!"

He had assumed she would try and contact him when she woke up, but the thought that she could be out in San Francisco with her powers so unstable was something he hadn't considered. His borderline panic attack was cut short by a soft, hesitant call from the door to his left.

Charlotte was on the floor of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel but bone dry. The showerhead was dribbling uselessly, clearly abandoned. Chris paused in the doorway, averting his eyes until he was sure Charlotte would be comfortable.

"I thought you'd run away," he admitted as he focused on a small painting affixed to the wall. He heard Charlotte laugh, but it was strained.

"No, I wouldn't run. I'm terrified, but running just prolongs the inevitable,"

The bitter cut on her tongue as she spoke was dutifully ignored, knowing that now was neither the time nor the place to be pushing for details. He spared a glance into the bathroom, relieved to find Charlotte on her feet and wearing a worn red bath robe. Her skin was pale; the grey in her hair faded against the brown but still peering through the cracks. There was a tremble in her hand as she braced on the sink and looked in the mirror.

"I've never felt more attractive," she said dryly.

Chris held out the vial, explaining as fast as he could all that they had managed to learn this morning. Charlotte's face screwed up when the liquid hit her tongue, the acrid smell of burning rubber filling the small bathroom while she finished a glass of water in one gulp.

"What the hell is in that?"

"I didn't ask, actually,"

If it was powerful enough to make the powers of a Time Keeper malleable, he was pretty sure they didn't want to know. He watched Charlotte carefully, unsure how fast the potion would take action, or if the effects would even be noticeable. When five minutes passed, Charlotte slid to the floor and rested her head against the wall.

"Maybe it doesn't work?"

She gestured to the grains of sand that were coating the floor in a thin layer, "What was that spell thing you did yesterday. I can't keep cleaning this apartment, I'm going nuts,"

Chris's lack of response made her raise an eyebrow, "Hello? Earth to Chris?"

"You're not shaking," he said, not bothering to stop the smile stretching across his face.

Charlotte's hand remained still as she pointed, to evidence of a tremor in sight. Her hair still remained streaked with grey, but Chris could already see a fade in the dark circles under her eyes; watched as her paper white cheeks flushed with a kiss of pink. It might not be doing much, but the potion was at least doing would buy them time until they could figure out what was going on.

A/N- Thank you so much for the amazing feedback I've been getting for this story. For a while, I fell out of touch with Charmed, especially when I started reading the comics and found that everything wasn't quite as I'd always envisioned.

We had a large storm in my area and I was without power or internet for a few days, but I want to get into a schedule of updating about once a week. I've definitely got my drive back for this story, and I want to get it out there and not leave anyone hanging like last time.