Chapter 12- Falling From Grace
Surprisingly, LEO didn't say a single word as he watched Chris systematically destroy the club that had at times been their family's only source of income. He realized that Chris needed this right not. Anger and frustration rolled off his son in waves and he used his powers to take his pent up emotions out on every chair, table, and glass in the place, screaming his rage all the while.
When he finally burnt himself out, Chris cautiously looked around and surveyed the damage. He knew that Piper was going to kill him if he didn't fix this. Sighing tiredly, he cast the "object of objection" spell and everything was put right again.
"Feel better now?" LEO had asked quietly.
Chris sank into one of the stools at the bar, feeling completely spent. "Not really," he said, hanging his head in his hands dejectedly.
LEO sat down beside his son unsure of what to say. There was still so much history between them that he was afraid that Chris would never open up to him. When he finally did speak his voice it was thick with emotion. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again. If I had known… if I had could have prevented you from seeing that memory… I-"
"It's alright," said Chris, cutting him off. "I knew that something like that might happen."
"You did? Why did you allow Phoebe to cast that spell then?" his father asked in surprise.
Chris shrugged and ran his fingers through his hair. "Like I said earlier; I didn't have much of a choice. There wasn't any other way to find the demons that killed the sisters. If it means we can save them and prevent Wyatt from turning evil… well, then it was worth it."
LEO smiled at his son and clasped his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I'm so proud of you… of the sacrifices you have made… you are so much stronger than I am."
Chris rolled his eyes. "You make me sound like a martyr."
"You are!"
"I don't know about that…"
"Only a martyr would form the resistance against his own brother to save lives and only a martyr would risk coming to the past to change the future, not knowing if he would survive or even come back. And to face family that you lost so long ago… well, it's quite remarkable."
"Still… but a martyr? If you knew half of things I've had to do, you wouldn't think so positively of me…I've done some awful things in order to survive," Chris said, shaking his head.
"I know it's been hard. But you've overcome so much and you are still good person. A father couldn't ask for more than that," he continued. "Wyatt didn't go through half of what you did and it sent him down a dark path. You followed your heart and stayed true to the light. What you've accomplished is amazing."
Chris finally relented and muttered a small, "Thanks."
Against his better wishes, LEO agreed to share a few drinks with his son, if it meant that he would continue to talk to him. He desperately wanted to reconnect with Chris, and if few drinks lowered his inhibitions enough to share some of his pain, then so be it.
He suppressed an urge to knock each drink out of Chris's hand, remembering the suicide attempt with alcohol and pills, and focused on the fact that his son was stronger now and an adult. Besides, he wasn't sure how much Chris remembered of the time between when he was found in the underworld and when he went to live with Victor. There were days at a time where Chris had been heavily sedated or on anti-anxiety and depression medication to help cope with his massive mood swings.
Surprisingly, Chris ended up sharing quite a bit with his father over their drinks. They spent hours catching up with one another, talking about family, laughing at memories of when the boys were kids, and reminiscing over the loss of Piper and the rest of their family. Eventually the conversation led to Chris's capture and he finally revealed, for the first time, the horrible details of what happened to him.
When the tears finally came, LEO just held onto his son and wept along with him. By now they were both quite inebriated and it was very late. Knowing that Chris was dead on his feet, he led him to his bed in the back office and lay him down. Within a few short minutes Chris had been fast asleep. LEO had promised to stay with him and wake him from any nightmares, should he be plagued with them that evening. Surprisingly the nightmares were held at bay. Unburdening his soul had down wonders to his subconscious.
* * *
Chris awoke the next morning to find himself lying on the couch in the back office of P3. He had a killer headache and he felt generally awful. He couldn't understand how he came to be in his awful state when it all came rushing back to him suddenly.
He remembered that he had slipped and inadvertently told Piper his most precious secret… that he was her son. And he had also been pulled into his memories of the time he had been taken to the underworld. It had been bad enough seeing it all again after he had worked so hard to forget all of it, but it had been even worse because Phoebe had been witness of it.
Chris lay his head back against the pillow and let out a deep sigh. It was the aftermath he had created after all that experience that had given him this god awful hangover. Unable to cope with rawness of the pain he had been feeling, he had orbed away from the manor and gone to P3. Much to his dismay his father had followed him by grabbing onto his orbs.
Peeking his eyes open now, Chris could see that his father had fallen asleep in the chair. His head was tilted backwards at a painful angle and his mouth was hanging wide open. Chris swung his legs onto the floor and pushed himself up carefully. The sofa squeaked loudly, alerting LEO that he was awake.
The older man startled at the sudden sound and bolted upright. Seeing that Chris was awake he said, "G'morning."
"Not so good," Chris moaned, holding his head now.
"I told you this would happen," LEO commented.
"Yeah, well…" Chris couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Feel like getting some breakfast with your old man?" LEO asked. "We could go to JJ's."
Chris thought it over for a moment and nodded. A little bit of normalcy was just what he needed. His stomach didn't feel all that queasy and it had been a long while since he had gone to a diner to eat. His head hurt quite a bit, but that was nothing he couldn't deal with. Besides, he really could use a cup of coffee right now.
"What are we going to do for money?" he asked.
"We'll just borrow from the P3 cash register. Piper won't mind."
The pair took their time showering and making themselves more presentable. LEO was thin enough to borrow some of the clothes Chris had stashed at the club. When both were ready and feeling a little more sober, Chris orbed them to their favorite dive.
The each ordered a large breakfast and continued to reminisce about old times. When their plates were finally empty and their coffee had grown cold, LEO decided that it was time to make an appearance at the manor.
"I don't know…" Chris faltered, when his father suggested they should see what the others were up to. "I don't feel like talking about what happened with them just yet."
"Don't worry. I think they know enough to leave you be for now…" he said as he lay a few bills on the table to cover their breakfast and tip.
"But what about Mom?" Chris asked.
LEO raised an eyebrow at that. It was the first time he had ever heard Chris refer to Piper as his mother. He smiled. "I deal with her if necessary."
"Alright, I guess we should find out if they made any headway on that demon," Chris agreed.
After walking a few meters behind the diner, Leo and Chris orbed to the attic hoping to find some answers. When they arrived they found Phoebe and Paige sitting on the couch with Wyatt beside them in the play pen.
They both looked up at the two men, looking apprehensive. The emotional display that had been witnessed last night when Chris and Phoebe awoke from the memory had been quite dramatic. Nobody said anything for a few moments and the silence was almost deafening. Unable to handle the tension, Paige said, "Hi. What's up?"
"We came to see if you found out anything about the demon," said LEO, noticing the book that lay across Paige's lap. "Is that him?"
Paige nodded. "We couldn't find Zorac in the Book of Shadows so Leo went to magic school and found this one for us. Apparently they have an extensive library just full of books about magical creatures."
"Seems like Leo could have told us about this library before," muttered Phoebe, as she scratched out whatever she was writing on her notepad. "We've came up against enough demons that weren't in the Book."
"So what does it say?" Chris asked, staring at the illustrations of Zorac with wide eyes. It showed two profiles, one from the front and one from the back, highlighting the intricate tattoo that adorned the bald head.
Phoebe saw the way Chris was staring at the picture and gave him a sad smile. She knew better than anyone what Chris had gone through in the three days he had been taken after the Charmed Ones' deaths.
"Not much," answered Paige. "Apparently in our time he's only a lower level demon and is part of a small clan. They must gain more power in the future or something. Or maybe the clan grows really large and that's how they came to be so powerful in the future. You know, like strength in numbers."
"Is there a spell or potion?" Chris asked.
"No, we're working on that. But at least we know now where to find them," she said pointing to the description of the demon's lair. "I'm going to get started on the potion."
Paige walked across the room and began to gather up the pot and some herbs from the cupboards and placed them on the table.
"Need some help?" Chris asked.
Paige raised her eyebrows. "With the potion?"
"Sure why not."
She shrugged as she tossed an herb into the pot. "I've just never seen you make a potion before, that's all."
Chris rolled his eyes. "I am part witch you know. And besides, I'm rather good at brewing. I learned from the best."
Paige looked surprised, realizing that Chris was indicating her. "You mean me?"
"Yup." Chris joined her and picked up the recipe she was working from.
Paige nodded in appreciation and said, "Well, what do you know…" she said to herself.
"Is this a variation of the potion you made to vanquish the Source?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
He smiled. "I learned from the best," he repeated, stirring the pot as he added the fish scales. "This is going to pack quite a punch."
"That's the plan. We figured that we might as well go in with our most powerful weapons in hand rather than underestimate them."
"But isn't this overkill? You said that they're only lower level demons right now."
"Yeah, well it's best to be prepared."
LEO smiled at the exchange, glad to see Chris opening up a bit to his aunt. He turned away from the pair and approached Phoebe. She was still seated at the couch working with a pen and a pad of notebook paper in hand on the spell.
"Where's Piper?" he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Where's Piper?"
"Downstairs, I think. With you. I mean Leo… well, you know what I mean," she sent absently.
He nodded and went in search of his wife, knowing instinctively that she was probably not handling this situation well. Wyatt gurgled at him happily as he past and he ruffled his son's head before heading out of the attic.
LEO soon found Piper and Leo sitting quietly in conservatory holding hands. There were tears streaming down her face and he felt his heart clench in sympathy. He knew how much she was hurting and she didn't even know the full extent of everything that happened in the future. It was probably better that she didn't.
He didn't spend a lot of time in this room in the future since it was where Piper took her last breath, but he didn't have a lot of choice. He sat down across from them and took a deep breath.
"How are you holding up?"
"Oh just fine," Piper commented darkly, wiping at the corners of her eyes with a crumpled tissue that she held tightly in her hand. "Wyatt turns evil and locks his daddy up for several years, my sisters and I are horribly killed all on the same day, our family falls apart, the world goes to hell, and my other son- who I just find out is Chris- is emotionally scarred by whatever happens to him when he is taken. So yeah… we're just fine!"
LEO wasn't taken aback by Piper's biting words. He knew her enough to know that this outburst was her way of thinking things through.
"Sorry…" he said softly. "I don't know what to say…"
Leo pulled Piper into an embrace and turned to look at him. "You don't have to say anything… this isn't your fault."
"Sometimes I think it is," LEO admitted. "I spent the better part of my captivity replaying everything that happened in my head, wondering where it went wrong."
"Was it gradual?" Piper suddenly asked.
LEO was perplexed. "What do you mean?"
"Wyatt. Did he turn evil over night or was it gradual?" she asked.
He contemplated this, not knowing what to say. "It's hard to explain…"
"Please try," she begged. "There are so many things you and Chris aren't telling me. I need to at least know why my death and what happened to his brother affected Wyatt so much. Didn't we raise him to know right from wrong? Did a switch just flip inside of him or did the change happen slowly? Please… I need to know."
LEO sighed as he remembered when he knew that his son had fallen from grace.
* * *
Leo had just come home from checking on Chris in the hospital again and nearly ran into Wyatt coming out of his room. They had moved back to the manor after Chris had been admitted a few months ago.
Leo had been angry with Wyatt earlier when he hadn't wanted to come to the hospital with him, but upon seeing Chris, Leo was beginning to understand why. Chris's condition hadn't changed much from his last visit, or from the last few months for that matter. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever have his little boy back again.
"See you later," Wyatt mumbled, brushing past his father.
"Where are you going?" Leo demanded, noticing Wyatt's dark attire. For whatever reason his son's clothing choices recently had consisted mostly of black shirts and dark jeans.
Wyatt paused at the top of the stairs. "Why?"
"Because I'm worried about you," Leo called after his eldest son. "You're never home anymore and you've almost completely given up on school."
"What's the point in even going to school?" Wyatt asked, turning around to face him. "It's not like any of that really matters."
"Of course it matters," he said firmly. "If you don't want to focus on high school then at least finish out magic school."
Wyatt snorted disdainfully and shook his head. "Like they can teach me anything I don't already know," he scoffed. "I'm more powerful than all of those fuddy duddies combined!"
Leo frowned deeply at this. "Wyatt, they can teach you what you need to know. You think you're prepared for anything that might come your way, but you're not! You never know when you might be attacked-"
"Like Mom was?" Wyatt asked coldly. "Like Chris?"
Leo closed his eyes in frustration, "Don't Wyatt… I'm just worried about you."
"Well don't be. I'm going to make it so that you never have to worry again," said Wyatt stalking down the stairs and away from his father.
Leo quickly followed after him. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"
Wyatt ignored him and continued his path down the stairs and into the living room. He grabbed his leather jacket from where he had tossed it on the couch earlier and quickly put it on.
"I know you want revenge, Wyatt. So do I? But at the end of the day it won't bring her back," Leo said sadly.
"I've already had my revenge," Wyatt said nonchalantly. He then checked to see that his athame was still secured to his side.
"What?" asked Leo. He was surprised to hear this. Wyatt would have certainly told him that he had vanquished the demons that had killed the Charmed Ones and had taken Chris, wouldn't he?
"You heard me," he said.
"When?"
"Does it matter?"
"Then where are you going?" Leo demanded once more.
"To make sure we never have to be afraid again," Wyatt said simply.
Leo was beginning to understand now why Wyatt wasn't home much anymore. Apparently his son had taken it upon himself to go on a vanquishing spree to ensure their safety. "Don't do this Wyatt… it's not going to make Chris better any faster."
Wyatt shrugged. "Maybe it will... he wouldn't have to be afraid."
"Even if that were true, you know that he'd still be left with the memories of what happened," Leo said sadly. Only Chris could save himself now. "What he needs is his big brother to visit more often."
"I tried that. Didn't do much good."
"So keep trying. We can't give up hope that Chris will eventually heal his emotional wounds."
Wyatt shook his head and backed away. "I still have to do this."
"Why?"
"You already know…" Wyatt replied, his eyes flashing.
"Don't do this Wyatt! You're only 17! Do you really realize what you are becoming?"
"I want to protect my family! There's nothing wrong with that!" Wyatt shouted.
"At the expense of everything else?" Leo argued. "You are killing now for the sake of killing! What would your mother think?"
"I wouldn't know, now would I? She's dead!" his son said coldly.
"Don't do this Wyatt! I want you to stay home tonight-" Leo began.
"You can't tell me what to do," Wyatt countered.
"Yes I can. I am your father. And I want-"
"It's not about what you want anymore. Besides I am an adult. You can't control me."
"You're only 17!" Leo argued once more. "You won't be an adult until you are 18 and move out of this house."
"Well then maybe I will just move out now!"
"Why are you doing this?" Leo pleaded with his son, his eyes filling with tears. He wasn't sure how much more he could take.
"I told you! I want a world where my little brother doesn't have to fear anything! I will do everything in my power to create that world."
"To what end?" he asked. "At the rate you are going you'll end up exposing magic!"
"So what if I did? Why should I have to hide who I am? Why should I deny my magical heritage because the Elders think it unwise to let the mortal world know that a king walks among the?" Wyatt asked.
"A king? Is that who you think you are now?"
"Why not? I am King Arthur's heir and I wield Excalibur. Why should I deny my right to my throne?"
Leo shook his head sadly. "What's happened to you?"
"I've only come to realize my true destiny. It would be wise if you did not stand in my way," Wyatt warned. He then orbed out before Leo could say another word.
Leo sank into the couch and covered his face with his hands. He had been so busy trying to make sure that Chris got the care that he needed, that he had neglected Wyatt in some ways. It was only now that he was beginning to see how much Wyatt enjoyed the power he was wielding, and that he was beginning to crave more. His son was headed down a dark path and he wasn't sure he would be able to pull him back.
* * *
"It happened slowly," said LEO. "So slowly I didn't even see what was happening even though it as right in front of me. At first it seemed as though he was hell bent on revenge, but over time it seem to become more than that. He gave upon school, he was almost never home, and he stopped visiting Chris altogether."
"Visiting Chris?" Piper asked in confusion. "Where was he?"
"It doesn't matter," LEO tried to say, realizing his own mistake.
"Of course it matters. Where was Chris? Why wasn't he home?" she asked.
"Don't you remember… Chris was staying with Victor," said Leo, gripping his wife's hands. "He probably couldn't stand to live in the manor after seeing your death here. Right?"
Leo looked to his future counterpart for confirmation. LEO nodded weakly; knowingly omitting the fact that Chris had been hospitalized for several months before he ever went to live with his grandfather.
"Wyatt began hunting demons regularly. He felt so powerful after each kill that the lines between good and evil began to blend. I imagine that all it took was for one demon to beg for mercy and ask to join Wyatt instead of being killed to spark the idea that he could rule over them. I think he truly believed that what he was doing would keep Chris safe. The only way Wyatt felt he could do that was to have ultimate power. It was like a kick in the face when Chris refused to join Wyatt after all his brother had mistakenly done for him."
"Why didn't you stop him?" Piper asked in an accusing tone. "Why didn't you make our son listen to reason?"
"I tried, Piper. Believe me, I tried," he pleaded. "At first I think I might have ignored some of Wyatt's behavior because I was grieving so badly over losing you… Chris wasn't doing so well either and it was all I could do to hold us all together… and when I finally began to realize what was happening, it was too late. Wyatt was too far gone."
"I just don't understand…" Piper cried, wiping away her tears once more. "Wyatt should have known better…"
"I thought so too. I tried to tell him so, but he was so much more powerful than we expected. It corrupted him."
Piper shook her head sadly. "I just don't want to believe that any of this will happen."
"I know. I'm so sorry…" LEO apologized.
"At least we can stop it from every happening," Leo added, hoping to lighten the mood. "If we succeed than it will be like nothing ever happened at all."
LEO nodded, although he knew that it wasn't true. The consequences of time travel were too difficult to contemplate. In all likelihood, he and Chris would return to the future and still have the memories of the original timeline even though they would gain new memories of a hopefully happy future as well. Though another possibility would be that they would simply fuse with their future counterparts in the changed timeline and not really remember it all, thinking that it were but a dream.
The threesome was interrupted by Phoebe, Paige, Wyatt, and Chris walking into conservatory determinedly. Piper looked up at her sisters and said, "Is everything ready?"
They both nodded and Paige handed over a bundle of potions and the spell that had been written. Phoebe, who had been holding Wyatt, handed the little boy over to his daddy.
"Alright, let's go," said Piper, standing beside her sisters now and taking their hands.
"I'm coming too," said both Leo's at once.
Piper shook her head. "You don't have any powers," she said pointing to LEO, and then to her husband. "And you need to stay with Wyatt. We'll handle this."
They nodded reluctantly.
Phoebe looked to Chris and saw the apprehension written all over his face. "Are you alright?" she asked.
He nodded though he looked still unsure. "I just can't believe that this might all be over soon."
"Don't worry, we'll stop the demons and save you and our family," she said reassuringly.
"And I'm coming with you to make sure you do," he said, standing beside them now.
"Are you sure?" LEO asked.
Chris nodded determinedly and took his mother's hand.
"Alright. Let's do this!" said Paige, before orbing them all away.
A/N: Thanks for all of the positive reviews from the last chapter. Some questions came up about Chris's explosive power and the demons' reasons for capturing him. More will be explained in the next chapter.