A/N: I ended up changing the year that Leo was from in Chapter 2. He is now from 2025, not 2023. I realized my own mistake after I posted. I guess it doesn't really matter, but the change fits my timeline better. This will make Chris 22 in this story.

Chapter 3- Shocking Discovery

"How do you know Chris?" Leo asked his future counterpart curiously.

"It doesn't matter. I just need to talk to him," LEO repeated.

"So call him yourself," said Paige, feeling confused. If he already knew Chris, then why would he need one of them to call him?

"I'm not sure he'd come if I called," he explained a bit impatiently.

Piper sighed and called for their whitelighter. "Chris? Chris we need you!"

It took only a matter of seconds for Chris to orb into the manor. "What is it? Was there an attack?"

"No, but we have a visitor," Piper explained.

"A visitor?" asked Chris, looking a little annoyed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You called me because you have a visitor? I'm not here to entertain; I have a job to do. I was in the middle of something."

"Well, this is more important," she said tersely.

Hearing the seriousness in Piper's tone, Chris sighed and asked, "So where is this visitor?" He looked around and upon first glance didn't see anyone.

"Behind you," said a soft voice.

Chris glanced over his shoulder and then startled at the sight of another Leo in the room, one that looked as though he had seen better days. "Whoa! What's going on?" he asked, backing away from this strange version of Leo.

"Hello Chris," said LEO, a sad smile on his face as he took a few steps forward. "It's good to see you."

Puzzled, Chris looked to the Charmed Ones for an answer. "What did you do?" he demanded.

"We cast a spell to see who turns Wyatt and he was brought here instead," Phoebe explained sheepishly.

"What! Why would you do that? That's-"

"Personal gain!" Paige finished for him, waving her hand flippantly. "We know, we know."

"LEO says he knows you in the future," Piper began. "But he wouldn't say how."

Chris surveyed this bizarre version of Leo carefully, feeling his heartbeat quicken slightly. Whoever this was, he had obviously been through hell and back if his appearance was any indication. The man was covered in filth and looked as though he hadn't had a decent meal in a long while. Having come from similar conditions himself, it was reasonable to assume that their visitor very well could have come from the future. But Chris knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was not likely.

"What year are you from?" Chris asked hesitantly.

"The same as you, I expect," LEO replied. "2025."

"That's not possible…" said Chris, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I know this is confusing, Chris," LEO began, taking another step forward. "But I promise you that I am here. Just let me explain…"

"Don't come any closer," said Chris, feeling himself beginning to panic. He held up a hand and held the man back with his telekinesis.

LEO pushed against the invisible barrier, but found that he could not move any further. "Please just listen to what I have to say…"

Chris looked to the others and said, "I'll hold him for as long as I can. You need to find something in the Book about shape shifter demons. He's an imposter!"

"No I'm not!" said LEO adamantly.

"Chris, I really think that he's LEO," Piper explained. She gently reached out and tried to lower the arm Chris had raised to keep the man from approaching them any further.

He shrugged his shoulder to dislodge her and kept his arm steady. "NO! That's not possible! Grab some vanquishing potions," he instructed. "We need to be prepared. Paige, go search the Book!"

Paige shook her head. "Chris we already figured out that he is who he says he is."

"If you won't do it then I will," said Chris angrily. He carefully made his way over to the Book of Shadows, never lowering his arm to allow the man to escape.

LEO looked sad and defeated as he watched the young whitelighter search manically through the Book with his other hand. "Chris, please…" he tried once more, taking a few steps backing away from the barrier with his hands raised to show that he meant no harm.

Leo stood beside Chris and placed his hands on the Book to stop his frantic one-handed search. "Chris, I know you are just trying to protect us, but I know that he's me… believe me. I know!"

Chris finally looked up from the Book at the elder and said, "But that's not possible!"

"Why?"

"Because in my future you're dead!" Chris shouted.

He looked just as shocked as everyone else when he realized what he had slipped. All these months in the past, he had never given any information away about the future other than about Wyatt. He looked away in frustration.

"What?" Leo asked in surprise. "How?"

"It doesn't matter, but I know for a fact you are dead! I watched you die myself!" Chris said. "So that man cannot be you!"

"But he is," Leo tried again, looking over at his future self and knowing that it was true. "I'm sure of it."

Frustrated that no one was listening to him, Chris walked around the podium as he lowered his arm. He decided he was going to confront this imposter directly. Chris would vanquish the man himself if he had to.

"Who are you? Did he send you?" he asked, wondering if Wyatt had written another spell to send this pretender here.

"It's me, Chris. Let me explain-" LEO tried again.

"Did he send you!" Chris said tightly through his teeth, his annoyance mounting. He felt as though he might lose control any minute.

"Do you think he means Wyatt?" whispered Paige to Phoebe.

"It's possible. He's probably the one that sent Bianca back here," Phoebe reasoned.

"No, Chris. He did not send me," stated LEO. "The spell the sisters created brought me back to this time."

"Then who are you!" he shouted.

"You know it's me, Chris…" LEO began, slipping into whitelighter mode. "You're not being rational. Take a breath and calm yourself. When you feel more in control, use your whitelighter senses and you will know it's true."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Chris, just try it. What do you have to lose?" he said patiently.

Irritated at the request, Chris closed his eyes, confident that if this imposter tried anything, the girls would cover him. He took a few clarifying breaths, trying to think clearly. When he was calmer he reached out with his mind to sense who was in the room with him. He felt the girls first, their magic being the strongest, and continued to reach out. He could not have been more shocked to discover that there wasn't one, but two Leo's in the attic with him. The man really was who he said he was.

"Oh, God…" Chris breathed out as he realized the truth. When he opened his eyes, he saw LEO giving him a sad smile. "You can't be real…"

"I assure you that I am."

"But how can I be sure," Chris said, mostly to himself. "What if this is some spell that can fool whitelighter senses?"

"It's not," said LEO. "How else would I know that you love baseball? Or that you wanted to be a doctor when you grew up? Or that you had a crush on your magic school teacher?"

The Charmed Ones looked at one another in surprise. If what LEO was saying was true, then he had to be awfully close to Chris in the future.

"How do you know these things?" Chris whispered, shaking slightly with the shock of it all. His heartbeat quickened once more as his panic set in.

"Because I know you, Chris," he continued closing the distance between them. "I know how you loved to cook with your mom, but that you didn't take to baking. And that you once idolized your brother…"

"Um… excuse me? But how do you know Chris?" Piper suddenly interjected in an annoyed tone. She didn't appreciate that they were being ignored.

LEO looked at her in confusion. "I'm-"

"A friend of my father," Chris finished for him, giving LEO a deep and knowing look.

"Right," Leo said after a few moments of hesitation. "Chris is a family friend. Practically grew up at the manor."

"Well, that explains a lot," said Phoebe, realizing that it made sense. "That's how he knew so much about all of us."

Chris still looked utterly lost and confused. "But how is this possible? You're dead! I saw the darklighter kill you."

"That was an illusion. He made it look as though I had died," LEO explained. "I never even made it to the apartment that day."

"What? But we had a funeral for you," said Chris almost tearfully. "I grieved for you."

"I know. I'm so sorry…" LEO said, reaching out to put a hand on Chris's shoulder.

Shaking his head in denial, Chris said, "But he wouldn't do that to me."

"He who?" asked Paige, wanting to clarify what they were hearing.

"Wyatt," spat Chris. "He may have become the ruler of the underworld, but he never would have let me believe you were dead."

"He did," said LEO, looking almost sick with grief over it. "Trust me. He did."

Chris looked into his eyes searchingly. Something seemed to occur to him and a strange look came over his face. "So you have been alive all this time?"

LEO nodded numbly.

"You've been alive all this time?" Chris asked again, shaking his head in uncertainty. He seemed to growing more upset with each passing second.

"Yes," said LEO, his voice cracking with emotion. He seemed to understand what had caused Chris to become so alarmed.

"You've been alive all this time!" Chris shouted, batting away the hand that was still on his shoulder.

The girls and Leo looked at one another in confusion. Why would Chris be angry that LEO was still alive, when just a moment ago he seemed remorseful about his death?

"Do you have any idea what I have been through?!" he spat.

LEO nodded miserably, his eyes shining with emotion. "I know, Chris. If I had been able-"

"Do you know what it was like watching everyone you love die around you? Huh? Do you? Because you weren't there for it! Six years you were gone!" Chris screamed, growing more and more agitated. "Where the hell were you when my grandpa died? Or when Wyatt began taking over the world? Or the rest of the family fell one by one?"

"Chris-" LEO tried, tears streaming down his face now. His chin trembled from holding back the sobs that wanted to escape. He knew all too well how much his disappearance had probably affected Chris.

"Where the hell were you!? I needed you!" he ranted. "I thought you were dead, but you've been ALIVE all this time!"

"Chris, I can explain!" Leo yelled, trying to get through to the younger man.

"You know what? I don't want to hear it!"

"Please!" he begged tearfully.

"You've got no right coming back here and turning our world upside down!" Chris yelled. "I'm out of here… I've got better things to do…"

And without another word, Chris orbed away, leaving the rest of them in silence.

"What just happened?" asked Piper, looking at the others in confusion.

Never before had they seen Chris display such erratic and passionate emotions. In fact he was usually so closed off you couldn't ever read what he was feeling beneath the mask of indifference.

"I have no idea," said Paige, shaking her in confusion as well. Looking toward where LEO stood unmoving, she asked, "Are you alright?"

LEO looked up at her with a puzzled look on his face. It was though he had forgotten the rest of them were there. If possible, he looked even more dejected than he did before. His tears had made clear tracks on his dirt stained face and his eyes looked almost haunted.

Turning to Leo, he asked, "Can you sense him?"

Leo paused for a moment and said, "He's at the bridge."

LEO nodded and wearily made his way back to the couch, where he collapsed onto it with exhaustion. He wiped away his tears with his rough hands, causing him to look even more drained and unclean than before.

"Why can't you sense him?" Leo asked his future self.

LEO sighed tiredly. "It's a long story…"

A/N: I'm sure Chris's reaction seemed confusing. Just as a warning, there will be a lot that won't make sense at first, but it will all be explained as the story unravels. Hopefully you all will enjoy speculating what happened in the future. Don't forget to review!