Chapter 14- Healing

The Charmed Ones arrived to the attic to find Chris and LEO talking quietly. Leo and the two teenagers they rescued were no where to be found.

"What's going on? Where are the kids?" Piper asked, referring to the brother and sister that Chris was supposed to have brought here.

LEO looked to Chris as if to gauge how much to tell them. His son finally nodded and he said, "Leo is healing them in your bedroom."

"Why?" she asked in surprise.

"They needed some privacy," he replied quietly, not wanting to tell her that the nature of their injuries required healing in some discreet areas.

Phoebe, who had not stopped crying since they had found the kids, still looked quite distraught. "Excuse me," she said. She quickly left the attic and headed downstairs.

"Is she alright?" Piper asked her other sister.

"I don't know. She hasn't said much. She's probably just overwhelmed by everything right now," Paige replied with a shrug, wincing at the pain. She wondered how much more Phoebe knew about the situation than they did. Paige had her own suspicions about what happened, but for now she was keeping them to herself.

LEO noticed Paige's shoulder was injured and leaned forward to study it more closely. "Sorry I can't heal that for you. It looks like it hurts," he said, looking truly disappointed about his lack of powers for the first time. He had lived without them for so long he hadn't really missed them until he realized that he could really use them right about now.

"It's okay," Paige replied. "It's not bad. I can wait."

"Where's Wyatt?" asked Piper.

"Taking a nap," LEO replied. "You were gone a while so we gave him a bottle and put him down."

She nodded absentmindedly. "Did Chris tell you what happened?" she asked.

"A little. He only just got here."

"I'm guessing he only had time to tell you that we found innoncents," she surmised.

Chris nodded and said, "Pretty much."

"Well, did he tell you that the clan was much larger than we had anticipated?" Piper asked.

"No, he didn't," said LEO. "How large?"

"Pretty large. Maybe 50 demons, give or take. We soon ran out of potions and were overwhelmed every time we tried to read the spell. We almost didn't make it out of there alive," Paige explained.

LEO raised an eyebrow at this. "Then how did you?"

"Chris saved us," said Piper.

"Really, how?" he asked, turning to look at his son in amazement.

"He single handedly destroyed a dozen or more demons in a huge explosion," she replied, sounding proud once more.

"I didn't know you had a power like that."

Chris shrugged. "I really didn't either. It seems to be an advanced form of my TK. Kind of like a telekinetic blast, I guess."

"Well, whatever it is that you did, you saved us," Piper said, heaping the praise onto her son once more.

LEO clapped a hand on Chris's shoulder, looking quite proud as well. "You really did it, Chris. You saved the future!"

Chris smiled finally and said, "Yeah, I guess I did."

Unable to contain her own excitement, Paige threw her arms around Chris and pulled him into a hug, being careful not to jostle her injury more than necessary. "Aw… I always knew my nephew was special."

"You only just learned I was your nephew," he argued.

"Yeah, well, ever since then I just knew you were something special. You are quite a powerful being," she added. "You and your brother are going to give your mother hell, I just know it."

Everyone began to laugh, but their celebration was short lived.

Leo suddenly appeared in the attic doorway, looking grave. He rubbed his face tiredly as he surveyed their small group. He soon noticed that Paige's shoulder was injured and needed healing. He calmly walked over and began to heal her burn; his face still quite serious. Paige nodded to him in thanks and rubbed her shoulder to get out the remaining tension.

"Leo… what is it?" Piper asked. "Couldn't you heal them?"

He glanced at LEO and Chris before addressing his wife. "I healed them."

"Then what is it?" she implored.

Leo's eyes were glassy as he responded. "I… I was able to heal their physical wounds, but I think there are some emotional… mental… wounds that are just too deep." He knew from the nature of their injuries just how awful their captivity had been.

"What do you mean?" asked Paige, fearing the worst.

"I suspect that they have been held captive for a very long time. Neither one will speak to me. Not even to tell me their names."

"They wouldn't speak to us either," said Piper.

"They're in a near catatonic state. They haven't moved a muscle since I healed them and seem unable to deal with their new surroundings," Leo continued to explained. "Phoebe is down there now trying to get them to talk."

Phoebe had seemed so distraught when she left that Piper was surprised that she was trying to help the siblings in their care. She figured Phoebe had gone down to her room to be by herself.

"That's awful," said Paige. "What are we going to do with them if we don't even know who they are?"

"That's a good question," said Leo.

"Maybe we should contact Darryl and see if the siblings match any missing person's reports," suggested Piper.

"That's a good idea, but in the mean time what do we do with them?" Leo asked.

"Why can't they just stay here?" Piper asked. "They're innocents. I am not going to just throw them out on the streets after what they've been through, are you?"

Leo was quick to respond. "Of course not, Piper. I just think that they need more care than we are capable of giving."

LEO and Chris had been quiet through the entire exchange. LEO whispered something in his son's ear and Chris shook his head vehemently. LEO whispered something to him once more and he nodded after a moment's hesitation. Chris then quietly left the room without another word.

"I think you should bring them to Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute," said LEO, when Chris had left.

"What?" they all asked in surprise.

"Langley Porter," he said once more. "It's here in San Francisco. Ask for Dr. Kim Stevens. I think she began to work there around this time."

"I know Kim," Leo said in surprise. "She's a former charge of mine. She's a future whitelighter."

LEO nodded. "She'll be able to help them without exposing magic."

"What makes you think she can help them?" Paige asked.

"She's a psychiatric doctor. She'll be able to help them recover from the trauma they have experienced. It's the least we can do until we discover their identities and can return them to their family."

"How do you know about all of this?" Piper asked suspiciously.

LEO seemed to hesitate. "Like Leo said, she's a former charge."

"Those poor kids. I just feel so awful for them, you know? Why were they down there anyway?" asked Paige, seeking to understand.

When no one else responded, LEO carefully said, "I imagine that this clan of demons may have been taking human hostages for years."

"But why? For what purpose?" Piper asked in confusion. "Even if those kids are witches, what would the demons gain by keeping them prisoner? If its power they are seeking than why not just kill them after they've gotten what they needed. What leverage could they possibly have in keeping them?"

No one said anything in response. Both Leo's already knew the answer to that question and Paige had her own suspicions.

"Piper…" Leo said slowly. "Sometimes beings are just evil. There probably wasn't some sort of plot to gain power. Their reasons for keeping them could have just been… more personal."

Piper looked to him in confusion and then slowly realization dawned on her face.

"Oh God… you don't mean… no. No! NO! That couldn't have happened… those poor babies…" she cried.

Paige wrapped her arms around her sister as her suspicions were confirmed. Piper brushed her off irritably when she began to connect the pieces together.

"Wait! That couldn't have happened because….because, because that would mean that Chris was…. Oh no," said Piper, finally dissolving into tears. "My baby… my poor, poor baby."

"Piper…" said Leo, reaching out for his wife's hand. "We don't know anything for sure."

"No, but he does!" she said, pointing at LEO. "That cave we found the kids in. That's where Chris was taken, wasn't it?"

"I don't know… I didn't find him there…" LEO said, his eyes shining now.

"But you know what happened to him!"

"Piper-" LEO tried to calm her.

"You healed him. You must know!"

LEO nodded miserably.

"Did they hurt him like they hurt those poor kids?" she asked, her voice tight with emotion. "Well did they?"

"Yes," he said softly, wiping away a stray tear. "And not a day has gone by that I haven't regretted leaving you both alone that day."

Piper began to sob and turned into Leo for comfort. Paige was sniffling sadly, trying to make sense of everything she was hearing.

"That's why Phoebe has been so upset; she knew what happened to him from that memory," said Paige. It was more of a statement than a question.

LEO nodded miserably.

"That's what you meant when you said Chris wasn't doing well after the attack," said Leo, still trying to understand. "You said Wyatt stopped visiting Chris. You meant at Langley, didn't you?"

LEO nodded once more, feeling as though he had betrayed his son even though he had gotten Chris's consent to reveal all of this to them if necessary. It was the only way either of them could think of to save the siblings from the mental anguish they were still going through.

"How could we have let this happen?" Piper cried.

"I'm sorry… so so sorry…" LEO implored.

Seeing how dejected LEO looked right now, Piper knew that she couldn't blame him for anything that had happened. He was hurting just as much as they were. She left her current husband's side and reached out for his future counterpart. She wrapped her arms around LEO and held on tight, knowing that this was what he needed right now.

"I'm so sorry…" he said once more, burying his face in her hair.

"It's okay…" she whispered, shushing him quietly.

"Piper, I'm going to pay Kim a visit and see if she'll come assess the kid's situation," said Leo, trying to compose himself and give her time with LEO.

Piper nodded, her arms never leaving LEO, and watched the other man orb away. She knew Leo was upset and was dealing with it by staying busy. Piper held the angel in her embrace tightly, letting him lament his anguish. It had been three long days since the spell had brought LEO here and turned their world upside down, and she could only imagine what he had gone through. First realizing he had been saved from imprisonment by his own son, reuniting with Chris, and then helping them understand the truth of what happened to their family in the future. She wondered how many painful memories LEO had suffered through since being here in the past. Her heart went out to him and she prayed that her wonderful husband would find comfort when he finally returned to the future.

LEO finally pulled back, and Piper gave him a reassuring smile. She sought out her sister and saw that Paige had crossed the room to give them so privacy. She seemed to be busying herself with putting away the potion ingredients they had used earlier.

"Let's go down and see how Phoebe is doing with the kids. She may need some help," said Piper to her sister.

Paige nodded, sniffling slightly, and followed her older sister and brother-in-law down to the second floor. They were all teary eyed and blotchy faced from crying, but that couldn't be helped just now. They walked to the master bedroom and found Chris standing in the doorway, leaning against its frame.

"Phoebe's trying to get them to shower," he explained, not making eye contact.

They peered around the doorway. They could see the siblings fearfully huddled together on the bed with two piles clothes next to them, presumably borrowed from Piper and Leo's wardrobe. Now that they could observe them in proper lighting, they could see the poor things were horribly emaciated, something Leo could not have healed. They were both a shell of whoever they used to be, retreating in themselves in order to survive their horrific ordeal. Thankfully they seemed to recognize and find comfort in each other.

Phoebe was standing in the master bathroom trying to coax them into the small room. "C'mon, it's really nice in here. You can get cleaned up and start to feel better. I've got clean clothes for you too," she said.

When they didn't follow her, she carefully grabbed the clothing she had set out so as not to startle them, and placed it into the bathroom. She then grabbed a couple of new toothbrushes from the linen closet. "Don't you want to brush your teeth?" she asked as she turned on the faucet. "Look at the nice cool water…"

That seemed to get the brother and sister's attention. They jerked their heads towards the sound of running water like it was too good to be true. They then hesitantly stumbled towards the bathroom, and pushed past Phoebe, who let out a startled gasp. When they reached the sink they each began to lap at the water by drinking it from their hands. They apparently hadn't had fresh water in a very long time. Relieved to see the kids responding to something finally, Phoebe turned on the shower and let the water run until it was warm. She then quietly closed the door behind her to give them some privacy.

"How's it going?" Piper asked.

Phoebe looked up at the small gathering outside the door in surprise, having not noticed their presence while helping the siblings. "Not good. They haven't said a word. That was the first response I've gotten from them."

"Do you think it's okay that we left them alone in there?" Paige asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Piper, entering her own room. LEO and Paige followed behind.

"Just that they are teenagers… and apparently brother and sister. Should we be concerned that they might be showering together? I mean… not that anything would happen… but just, is that right?" she asked, stumbling over her words.

"I think that's the least of our worries," said Phoebe, looking as though she had another headache coming on. She rubbed her temples tiredly. "I don't think we could separate them right now if we tried. I hate to think what they must have gone through…"

"Leo is getting help," Piper interjected.

"From where? Who?"

"A doctor that used to be his charge," she said simply, glancing toward Chris, who hadn't moved or said any thing else since they arrived in the bedroom.

"Can he help?"

"I think she can," said LEO.

"Oh," said Phoebe simply.

"We should probably contact Darryl as well," said Paige. "I'm going to go give him a call and explain the situation. Hopefully they're on a missing persons report and we can locate their family."

"Good idea," said Piper, nodding as her youngest sister left to call their friend. Phoebe had sat down on the bed and Piper joined her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Phoebe. "It's just hard to deal with their emotions…" She looked toward the closed bathroom door and her eyes filled with tears once more. "They're still so scared."

"I know, honey. But we're going to help them," said Piper, taking her sister's hand into her own. She gave it a squeeze and smiled at Phoebe reassuringly.

Silence found its way into the room, only increasing the obvious tension. The only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of the shower just a few meters away. LEO shifted uncertainly and crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at his feet. Piper chanced another glance in her son's direction, still reeling from the news she had learned only moments before.

"You know, don't you?" Chris asked, finally meeting her gaze. His eyes were filled with consternation.

Piper nodded as her son grunted in frustration. Before she could say another word he had orbed away. She stood up and was going to demand that LEO tell her where Chris might have gone, but was cut off when he began to shake his head.

"But you don't even know what I was going to say!" she argued.

"Yes, I do… you want know where Chris went so you can go to him, but that's not what he needs right now," LEO responded.

"What does he need?"

"A little space."

Piper sighed in aggravation and knew that LEO was probably right. Besides, there were other important matters to deal with right now. She left the room to go to her sanctuary… the kitchen.

Left with nothing else to do she made some sandwiches and placed them on a tray. She filled two glasses with milk and grabbed an assortment of fruit. She then carried everything upstairs to her bedroom.

By then Phoebe had managed to coax the brother and sister into the clothes once they finished their long shower. The jumped at the food and wolfed everything down in silence, still wary of the others presence.

Leo had arrived with Kim and they left them alone while she did a preliminary evaluation on the kids. In the end it was agreed that the siblings would need to be hospitalized, at least temporarily, until they could indentify their families.

Darryl also arrived with a book full of missing person's reports, but they were still unable to figure out who the brother and sister were. Darryl assured them that he would keep searching, pulling reports from neighboring counties or states if necessary.

Confident that they would be cared for properly, they released the kids into Kim's care. Leo orbed them to Langley and had refused to leave until they were properly admitted. It wasn't the best of situations, but it was all they could for now.

When Piper was sure that they had done all they could do, she immediately turned her attention back to her son. "Where's Chris? Can you sense him?" she asked her husband when he returned once more.

Leo closed his eyes and nodded. "He's-"

"Send me to him," Piper commanded.

Leo sighed. "I don't know if you'd want to go-"

"Just send me. Now!"

Leo smiled at her mischievously and raised his hand to orb her to Chris.

Piper suddenly found herself staring out across San Francisco Bay. The fierce wind swept her hair off her shoulder, blowing her long tresses out behind her. She felt as thought she was standing in the clouds. Unsure of where she was at, she glanced down and saw a strip of cars a hundred feet below her. She gasped in surprise. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Chris sitting there with his feet dangling over the edge.

"Whoa, where are we?" asked Piper, as she swayed on her feet. She took a few steps back and then glanced over her shoulder wondering if that was such a wise decision. It was a good thing she hadn't gone any further. As it was she was still at risk of plummeting to her death. The strip of metal she was standing on was fairly narrow, maybe a couple yards wide.

"Piper, what are you doing here?" Chris asked, standing up quickly and coming to her side.

"Where's here?"

"The Golden Gate Bridge."

"Oh, that makes sense," she said, noticing for the first time the distinctive paint color and the beams that radiated away from the tower she was standing upon.

"And why are you here?" she asked, feeling a bit dizzy.

"I like to come here to think," he stated simply, grabbing her arm when she seemed to sway once more.

"Why?"

"Dunno. Just do."

"Can we talk? Please," she pleaded, looking up at him earnestly.

"I guess," said Chris, rather reluctantly. "Do you want to go some place else?"

She nodded. "Yes, please."

He then orbed her to a beautiful garden setting, which Piper soon recognized to be apart of Golden Gate Park. She watched as her son took in the surroundings, smiling wanly. He took a seat on one of the stone benches and gestured for her to sit beside him.

"Why here?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged and brushed his hair off his forehead. "Good memories."

"With Bianca?" she inferred.

Chris looked at her in surprise. "Yes, but how did you know?"

She shrugged, unsure of how she had known herself. "A mother's Intuition, I guess… I'm sorry about what happened to her."

"Me too."

"It was Wyatt that killed her, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Chris replied, his voice thick with emotion.

"But we changed that, right?" she asked hopefully. "We killed the demons that cause Wyatt to become evil so he won't kill her in the future. Right?"

"I guess."

"Then what's wrong?" Piper asked, sensing her son was still at ease.

"What if she was destined to die then anyway?"

"You can't think like that Chris. Nothing in the future is certain, that's why it can be changed."

"But even if she doesn't die, it won't be the same."

"What do you meant?"

"I met Bianca because Wyatt was evil. He hired her services to come after me… if he isn't evil in the future than we will never meet. It'll be like it never was."

"If it's meant to be then it will be," Piper said, her voice full of conviction.

"I hope it will," he said softly, glancing around the garden once more.

Piper reached over and took her son's hand in her own. He stared at the way their hands were intertwined, looking quite unsure of himself. "I'm sorry, Chris. I didn't mean to dredge up any painful memories for you."

"Then why did you?" he asked, his green eyes searching her brown ones.

"I just want to talk to you… I didn't mean for our conversation to turn that direction."

"Then what direction did you want it to go?"

Piper paused uncertainly and seemed to choose her words. What she had to say wasn't going to be any easier. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Chris sighed heavily already realizing the direction this conversation was going. "About what?"

"Any of it… about who you are, what happened in the future, what happened to you… why did you keep it all a secret? Didn't you trust me?" she asked, sounding quite hurt. And deep inside she was. Her son hadn't thought enough of her to trust her with this important information. She had had to figure it out though some very unconventional means.

"It's not that," Chris insisted. "You wouldn't have believed me, anyway."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do. You were…are… I mean, will be my mother. I think I know exactly how you would have reacted. You would've sent me away, refused to listen."

That did sound a lot like how she would have reacted. "Maybe, at first. But I would've come around eventually."

"I didn't have that kind of time."

"But still…"

"Listen, it's hard to talk about, okay? I didn't even talk to Dad about most of this stuff until yesterday. It's not something I enjoy talking about."

Piper felt her eyes fill with tears and she reached up to wipe away few stray tears that had already begun to fall. "I'm so sorry that you went through any of that."

"I didn't remember a lot if it until recently. I kind of forced myself to block it out in order to survive," he began. "I carried around a darkness inside of me for a long while. I could have just easily turned evil. But when I saw what it was doing to Wyatt and I realized that it's not what you would have wanted for us. Above all else I wanted to make you proud."

"And I am proud of you!" Piper insisted. "Look at all the good you have done."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew some of the awful things I've done."

"Honey, nobody's perfect," she said. "I'm sure that you did what you had to do in order to survive."

Chris nodded, but didn't say anything more on the subject. Piper so badly wanted him to tell her more, but then thought better of it. It wouldn't do dwell on the past when it was clear Chris had worked so hard to overcome it all.

"What happens when you go back to the future? Will you remember any of it?" she asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Chris responded with a shrug. "I guess I'll find out soon."

"Really? You're ready to go back?"

"Why not?"

"It's just… I only just found out you were my son and now I feel like you are going to be leaving me. You are, aren't you?"

"As soon as I can."

"But why? What's the rush?"

"This isn't my time. I don't belong here," he explained.

"But you've been in the past for months and months now. What could it hurt to stay a little longer?"

"I just need to see it myself."

"See what?"

"The future. I need to know that it's really changed. That I really accomplished what I set out to do."

"Can't you wait just a few more days?"

"I don't know if I can. If nothing's changed then I need to come up with a new plan," he said wearily.

"You won't need to. I know we changed it."

"Still…"

"How about a week?"

"Huh?"

"Give me one week. Please," she begged, squeezing his hand. "I only just found you. I don't want to lose you yet."

Chris smiled. "Fine, one week. No more."

Piper returned the smile. "One week," she stated once more, feeling relieved.

A/N: That was my longest chapter yet (well for this story at least). I hope you like how I resolved things with the teenagers they rescued. Only one chapter left to go! Please review!