A Charmed Story - Part Eight:
Chris To The Max
Chapter 3

Sometimes in the future:
Hope entered the small room of her grand-cousin: "Hey Nicki, have you seen my potion-book?"
"Nope," the teen said without looking up. She was submerged in a magazine about music.
"Thanks," Hope said and closed the door, shaking her head. Then she headed upstairs to ask her grand-aunts. But they also haven't seen it.
So she walked over to Patty's room. She had already heard that she was at home from downstairs... her music wasn't to overhear, and when she opened her door it was like she entered the stage of a rock-concert.
"Hey!" Patty screamed. "Never heard of the word privacy... Why don't you knock?"
Hope went over to the music-station and turned it off: "Because you wouldn't have heard it... Have you seen my potion-book?"
"Why should I... ask Nicki or Jim or Christopher or maybe ask Prisca..." the teen snapped.
"I already asked your sister and your cousin, and Christopher isn't at home as it seems... and Prisca is with my dad..."
"So ask him..."
Hope rolled her eyes. Then she left the room, slamming the door. She hadn't made more than two steps when the music again sounded through the whole house. "If she wouldn't be one of the next charmed ones, I would kill her," Hope muttered angry and went upstairs.
Since they enlarged half of the attic, and made three small rooms out of that part about 10 years ago, this was the home of her and her part of this far too large family... well at least at the weekends - the other time they spend still at the school.
The rest of the attic they had left untouched, just to remember the "old days"
"Dad, are you here?" she asked.
"I am!" she heard him from the old part of the attic. She went through the door to find her father in front of the book-rest searching through the Book of Shadows while Prisca stood in front of him, waiting uneasy.
"I told you it's not in there," she said impatient.
Chris looked at the 12 year old girl and smiled: "Seems my little sister is right."
Hope sighed: "Dad? Prisca? Have you seen my potion-book?" Prisca shook her head energetically, same as Chris. She sighed and sat down on the far too old sofa.
Chris smiled and went over to her: "You'll find it... Why don't you get to the pas..." He stopped suddenly.
"What is it dad?" Hope asked worried.
Chris frowned: "I feel a shift in time... something is changing..."
"What?" his daughter asked worried. And then she quickly added: "I didn't do anything..."
"Oh my God," Chris said, ignoring Hope's last comment, "I think I know who had taken your book because... I remember your uncle... in the past."

°°°°°°°°°°

Back in our time:
"What have you said?" Chris asked astonished.
Michael looked from one to the other not sure what was going on. Why didn't Chris kill that demon?
"I asked you if you're crazy, damned!" his double asked.
"I meant before... before..." Chris couldn't believe it... that was impossible... that... But suddenly he knew it was true. He could feel it. "Oh my God," he muttered. His senses wouldn't lie to him, would they? That was so unbelievable.
At that moment Paige orbed in, together with Piper. When they saw the intruder they were shocked for a moment.
Then, when Piper was sure about who was her son, she tried to blow up the other, but the man who looked like Chris ducked right in time. Paige summoned a knife and threw it at the man just that second Chris yelled: "NOOOOO!"
This time the other one wasn't fast enough. He got hit in his shoulder. "Damned!" he cursed and sank down on the sofa. "That hurts!"
"STOP IT! Oh my God! STOP IT!" Chris yelled and stepped into the way, when Piper rose her hands again.
"Huh?" the witches looked at him frowning.
Chris rushed over to the wounded young man, kneeling down next to him. "You ok?" he asked and the other one winced a little but nodded.
Chris sighed and grabbed the handle of the knife: "Ok, that could hurt now a little..."
"Are you kidding?" the other one replied grimacing.
Chris couldn't help chuckling a little. Then he pulled the knife out of the other's shoulder, which made the man moan in pain. As soon as this was done, Chris started to heal him, while he turned to his mother and aunt, who looked completely confused, and said: "That isn't the demon, that's mini-me!"

°°°°°°°°°°

Wyatt looked in Belthazor's eyes, waiting for an answer. He needed his help, and he knew he would help them, because his future was good.
He did not want to think that something had change just because he was in the past. Maybe he had done something, but... what? He could not think about anything that could have affected Michael, in any way.
But that was the butterfly effect!! A butterfly moves a wing in a corner of the world, and this action will cause a tornado in the other corner. Who knew what he had done, but now he was sure that he should have gone back to the future. Chris and his paranoid future consequences were right...
However, he now knew that this future Chris had allowed him to stay... Perhaps he knew that Angela would need him there?
He did not have time to think more about it, because Belthazor said very slowly: "So it seems that the genetic twin of your little brother is back, and has kidnapped a woman... And you wanna know if I have heard something about him." He exchanged a significant look with Julian, as Wyatt nodded.
"He wants Chris as a random for her... But you know as well as I do that we CAN'T do that. Not just because he's my brother."
Belthazor burst into laughter: "You know better than me for sure, future boy..."
"We know that Chris is good, and he has done many good things. He's necessary to keep the balance between good and evil... But he's out of every timeline, Wyatt. And that... genetic twin of his... He lives in the right time," Julian said.
Wyatt frowned at these words and looked at both men-demons-witches-whatever, startled. "W-w-what do you mean?" he stuttered.
Belthazor sighed, stopping his laughter little by little: "What he means is that Cristóbal, his genetic twin, belongs to this time. He's in the right place. And Chris's mini-self is too, but he, our beloved Chris, does not belong here."
"So what?" Wyatt asked, somehow angry, somehow terrified. "He was in my future, he has to be there!"
"Maybe your future is wrong..." shrugged Julian. "And maybe you should go back, because the same thing could happen to you. This is not your place."
Wyatt shook his head: "I can't believe what you guys are saying. You are with Chris, you always were."
"We are with the balance of evil-good forces. We thought Chris was necessary for that. But now we think we might be wrong."
"That's not true!" Wyatt stamped his fist on a wooden table. "Chris is in my future, he is important for that future, more than you can ever imagine, and he's even important for you! I'm gonna keep that future with or without your help!"
Julian and Belthazor exchanged their looks again. "Do what you have to do," Belthazor said, "we cannot help you in this."
"I will, and I will remind you of this in the future," Wyatt answered defiantly. Then he turned on his feet to leave, but Belthazor held him by his shoulder.
"Cristóbal is back, Wyatt... I mean: He's got new powers, and he's got some help. Be careful. That's all we can do for you," Julian explained.
Wyatt looked at him and then at Belthazor's eyes, who nodded. "Good luck." The giant red demon said with his rough voice.
Wyatt did not know what to think, but finally he nodded back and left with a really bad feeling.

°°°°°°°°°°

Michael was looking at the two men confused. If he closed his eyes and opened them again to find them in a different place, he would not be able to recognise them at all.
Piper opened her mouth widely, and went wordless, and Paige could not believe what she had heard. "I don't believe you," she said, getting back the knife and pointing at the young man with it.
"Aunt Paige!" both Chrises cried at the same time, and then they looked at each other.
"I think you are that bastard, that demonic twin of my nephew, come on, guys!!! Isn't it too much of chance, that Cristóbal has reappeared right now, when this man who claims to be our baby Chris is here too??" And approaching the young man lying on the sofa, she added menacingly: "What the hell do you want of Chris, and where's Angela?"
Christopher looked at the knife in horror and then at his old self, who took Paige's arm and tried to make her calm down.
"I believe him. I mean, this can't be that evil genetic twin of mine, come on... look at him."
"Hey!" Christopher cried, angrily. "That's mean!"
Chris shrugged: "No offence intended, sorry..." Then he turned to Paige again: "There is not even a single evil bone in him."
Piper was still startled, and didn't know what to say: "Well... Did I let you come here? Did Leo do that? Or this other Chris?" Christopher shook his head, and Paige pushed her knife against his neck, making him shiver.
"Then I guess I should ground you young man..." Piper answered, angrily. "And Paige, for God's sake... don't hurt him anymore."
Paige growled but took the knife away, letting Christopher breathe calmer.
But then Michael spoke: "How do you all know it's him?" he asked. "As far as I know, that Cristóbal could fake you perfectly well, Chris."
"But he called me 'maxi-me'. I don't think that demon knows that I call him 'mini-me'," Chris said with a grin. Christopher nodded even if he didn't know what was going on.
"That's not a good proof..."
"You want a proof, Mickey?" Christopher said, standing up a bit tired of all that argument. Michael frowned... Only Wyatt had called him like that. Did Cristóbal know that?
"I can... I can orb," Christopher said, and orbed before the startled looks of the others. Then he reappeared. "Happy now?" He folded his arms in front of his chest.
Chris shrugged: "And I can feel that it's him... I guess that's enough, isn't it?"
Paige stared at him and them wrapped him in her arms. "Oh, my little lovely nephew, I can't believe we're seeing you here! Please be careful not to get stuck in this time, I won't be able to have three versions of you around, that'd be too much!" she said really fast.
Chris cried: "Hey! That's mean!"
But Christopher chuckled this time: "You'll never change..."
Piper shook her head, astonished: "Whatever. You're still grounded. No milk today, only water."
Michael looked at the scene unable to believe what his eyes were showing to him. But that meant something. They had three people looking exactly the same.
He cleared his voice: "Hey... would you mind... go back to my problem? Please..." He was really worried about what could be happening to his wife meanwhile.

°°°°°°°°°°

Leo was pacing in front of Odin's desk. "But he's one of us!" he yelled for the hundred of time. "We have to help him!"
Odin sighed: "You should know, that I agree with you... after all what had happened. But you also know, most of the other Elders still think that he doesn't belong here." Leo rolled his eyes frustrated. "If you now ask the council, you will only gain the opposite," Odin went on.
"But you're the leader, aren't you?"
The Elder grinned: "You know that there is no leader... But if you are pointing on my influence...? Yes, they trust me, and my opinion. But that will not last forever if I keep on supporting your son that official..."
Leo nodded: "Yeah... it's good to have someone on our side, who knows everything that is going on up here... as long as you ARE on our side."
Odin sighed: "I AM... At the beginning I was not, that's true... But that he went to the fields... and after all what your grandchild showed to me... All that made me trust you and believe in your son."
Leo grinned. He couldn't help asking: "So will you tell me what you saw?"
"I can't my old friend, and you know that! Future..."
"... consequences..." Leo ended his friends sentence and couldn't help chuckling. That was too weird.
But then he suddenly felt something... he felt like one of his charges had an echo... Like, when... He turned pale.
"What?" Odin asked. But then he felt it too. Like a double signal... another timetraveller... another Chris.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris looked at his friend and then back at that not-that-little 'mini-version' of himself. There was an idea forming in his mind, but still it was to foggy.
"We looked through the book," Paige said to Michael, "nothing helpful."
"Yeah, we know too less about that twin-thing," Piper added.
Christopher sighed: "Can anybody explain to me what the hell is going on here?"
Chris was about to answer when bluish orbing lights filled the room. Seconds later Wyatt materialised looking really angry.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he started yelling at his really-younger brother. "Are you completely nuts?"
Christopher got a little paler. "It took a while for you to notice me," he said and flinched a little.
"Do you know how much trouble you could curse by coming here?" Wyatt kept on yelling.
Chris put his hand on his brothers shoulder: "Calm down, ok? He had already experienced some trouble when Mom and Paige thought he was my demonic twin..."
Wyatt looked from Chris to Christopher who tried to smile but failed. Then he asked him: "How did you get here?"
"That's a good question," Chris agreed, "so?"
"I borrowed a potion from Hope..." Christopher answered shyly.
Wyatt was wild gesturing with his hands: "Great, just great!
Piper sighed and put an arm around her baby: "You shouldn't be so hard to him." Then she turned to him and said: "I'm happy that my little Chris is here... It's good to see that you're a fine boy."
All three man rolled with their eyes. But before any of them could say something Paige got back to the point and asked: "So why did you come here?"
Christopher shrugged: "I... I just wanted to meet Chris too...This Chris, from this time, I mean. He's our... our hero... It's unfair that Wyatt could meet him twice times and me not!" Chris blushed by this words.
"So you came here, because you're jealous?" Wyatt asked not believing what he heard. His little brother just shrugged again.
Piper smiled at Christopher. Then she took his hand and rose. "Come on Chris, I think we should go to..."
"Mom!" Christopher exclaimed angry, "could you please stop calling me like that? You didn't call me Chris since I turned four!"
His mother looked at him frowning: "Why not? I mean why wouldn't I..."
"Because I asked you to!" Christopher said and then pointed at Chris. "I am not him!"
Piper looked at him confused. But Wyatt nodded: "Yeah, you all will call him Christopher..." His little brother grimaced.
Meanwhile Chris looked at Michael. His friend was hiding his face in his hands. He sighed and went over to him, while the rest of the family kept on discussing that name-stuff.
"Are you ok?" he asked softly.
Michael looked up: "What do you think?"
Chris sighed again and sat down next to him. He put his arm around his friend and said: "We will find her... And I think mini-me will be very useful for that..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Nicki had gone near the room where Steve and Tom were talking, and had eavesdropped, unable to wait outside without a clue of what was going on inside.
She heard with tears in her eyes how Tom told Steve that he had shared his dreams. That he had somehow undergone the same suffering. Nicki shook her head. She wished she had been able to do that, but she hadn't. Even if she had entered his dreams, she couldn't remember what she had seen there.
Suddenly, after a while of silence, she heard steps going towards the door. She startled and then she rushed to the bathroom by the room, and washed her face. Right at that moment the door opened and Tom appeared. His eyes were red too... He had cried.
Nicki dried her face and went out to meet him, when he was just closing the door behind himself.
"Hey..." she said in a very trembling voice.
Tom turned to look at her, and smiled weakly. "Hey..." He said tiredly.
They kept staring at each other in an embarrassing silence, until the girl asked: "How did it go?"
Tom shrugged, and sighed: "Well... He cried. At least that's something."
"What do you mean?" Nicki had seen him crying all the time since he was back.
"I mean, he cried with me; he didn't try to throw me away again. He did at first, but then he hugged me and cried like a little baby."
Nicki frowned: "Did he talk to you?"
Tom shook his head. "No. But there was no use. I already know a lot, most of it maybe. I told him. However, I'm sure he'll talk to you now, Nicki." He smiled, as the girl stared at him wonderingly and then turned her eyes to the door behind which Steve was hidden.
"Are you sure?" she asked, not very convinced.
Tom nodded. "Go ahead," he said. "I should leave now." He wouldn't say it, but he wanted to start to investigate about that son of a bitch that had done that to his best friend in the world.
Nicki muttered a very low 'ok', and stepped towards the door, as Tom, after observing her for a couple of seconds, shimmered away. Nicki knocked on Steve's door, and then opened it without waiting for an answer, but peering through the thin gap opened between the door and the wall.

°°°°°°°°°°

"...Well, mom, you chose the name Christopher for me. CHRIS-TO-PHER. The whole name."
"But you said your name was Chris, I mean..." Piper was messing everything up.
"NO! Chris said he was Chris... Chris Perry, or whatever. I am CHRISTOPHER! You see?? That is what I mean? I am not HIM!"
Paige looked at Wyatt and sighed. Wyatt, then, put a hand on his brother's shoulder: "Little brat, this is not time for this kind of argument. We're having some sort of a problem here. We don't need a lecture now on why you wanna be called Christopher, and why you are not Chris or whatever, ok?"
"Chris??" It was Leo's voice. He had just orbed in the lounge and was looking startled at his family.
"What??" two voices sounding like exactly the same answered also at the same time.
"See?? You go by Chris! Ha!" Piper exclaimed triumphantly.
Christopher rolled his eyes, annoyed. "He doesn't know, ok? By the way, daddy, please... call me Chris-to-pher," he said tiredly.
Chris chuckled a little bit. Michael had just asked him how his grown-up mini-self was supposed to help them in that, when Leo had appeared and the rest of the conversation had taken place.
"What is going on here?" Leo looked very nervous. "Me and Odin could feel that there was some time traveller, he knows now about you. This is very dangerous you know? " He looked at Chris, and started to wonder if he was talking to the right version, but he had to, because his Chris was with Michael. That could not his baby...
"They can do something to Chris, right? I mean..." Christopher said, looking at them innocently.
"Enough, Christopher. Timetravel is not funny; it could be dangerous, ok? So cut the crap. This is not a game, brother," Wyatt said angrily. "And you might be messing everything up right now."
Christopher scratched his head feeling embarrassed and guilty, and Piper couldn't help smiling sweetly. The same person but completely different. If there was something clear than that this little baby, this new Chris, had not undergone the same pains as his older version. He was more innocent, more childish even, less worried. But her thoughts were interrupted by a very-well known voice, the always-worried voice of their Chris.
"Ok, people. Would you mind to come back to our main topic today, and focus? Mom, dad, Wyatt, we can deal with my little self and his little prank later; he might be even useful now. And Christopher... we can discuss the importance of being Chris later too, ok? Then you'll let me know which is the problem, I guess we're gonna need to talk."
This time it was Paige that smirked. That was her nephew, the sarcastic and paranoid Chris. The other one did not seem to understand the sense and subtlety of sarcasm.
"And now..." he sighed, once he saw he had gained the attention of everyone in the lounge. "Let's find Angy. First, Wyatt, please, let us know what you found out if something down there... and then, I have an idea."

°°°°°°°°°°

Bianca was trying to make baby Chris calm down. Hope had fallen asleep almost immediately, and Wyatt had required a tale.
Actually, he wanted Cole to read it, but Bianca said that Uncle Cole was very busy killing an evil demon that wanted to kidnap little Chris, and he had left early that morning to fight several demons who were trying to catch him, and... Little by little Wyatt fell asleep.
But it was then when little Chris started to cry. The poor woman sighed and took him in her arms.
"I can't believe you're gonna be my sweet sarcastic husband in the future. Or now... Or..." she frowned. "Whatever. Thanks God you don't understand me."
The baby went on crying, ignoring her voice. She started to move around the room, and said: "I can hum your favorite music if you like... What about the soundtrack of Back to the Future?"
She chuckled, and the baby cried louder. "Alright. I know... No time travelling. Future consequences..."
Then she heard some yells and cries downstairs. It seemed as if they were fighting, but it sounded somehow confusing. Then he heard Chris's voice, and actually he was talking a lot. Quite a lot. She couldn't understand what they said, but they seemed to be arguing, so finally she relaxed.
It had been a false alarm. Nothing to worry about. Baby Chris went on crying, so she tried singing a lullaby this time.

°°°°°°°°°°

Phoebe and Cole were still lying in bed. They had ordered some lunch from the room service, had eaten it, and again had a lot fun together. Now they were both sleeping peacefully.
Phoebe smiled, surely dreaming of something wonderful. But Cole's sleep became more and more uneasy. He started sweating and tossing around. Then he screamed and sat up startled. Breathing heavily he stared into the nothing in front of him.
"What happened?" Phoebe asked sleepy.
Her husband fall back to the pillow, not answering.
"Cole?" she asked again.
He turned his head to look at her. His eyes were worried. "I had a strange dream," he said slowly, "and I fear there is more about it... Something is going on at home."
Phoebe smiled, caressing his cheek softly: "Stop worrying, ok? We will have a day without any worries today..."
"But..."
She put her finger on his lips to stop him: "This is our honeymoon, sweetie... and that wasn't a premonition, it was just a dream..."
Cole shook his head: "I didn't said I had a premonition... it's just a feeling... What if that's also a kind of power... What if...?"
Phoebe chuckled: "I didn't know that you are so interested in having new witch-powers..."
Cole sighed, looking at her serious: "I think you know what I mean... right?"
She nodded. "Ok sweetie, I understand you... but don't you think that Paige or Chris would pick us up if there would be any serious problems?" she asked. But before he could answer something, she gave him a kiss.
Cole smiled: "Alright..." Then he kissed her again...

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin was on his way to Silas, when another Elder crossed his way. "Oh, hello Jeremiah," he greeted. The other one just nodded.
"How are you? I haven't seen you for a while... well, except the meetings," Odin said smiling.
Jeremiah had always been a friend of him. But now, it seemed to him that something was wrong. Because Jeremiah answered with a cold voice: "Well I guess that's because your priorities have changed... excuse me, I have to work." He nodded again and walked away.
Odin followed him with his eyes. Then he shook his head and went on.
Five minutes later he sat down next to Silas who was submerged into a book. But when he noticed his friend he looked up. "What's wrong?" he asked seeing that expression in Odin's eyes, that told him he was hard thinking.
"I met Jeremiah. He was so aloof."
Silas nodded: "There are two groups forming as it seems... Those who do support Chris, and those who do not... And Jeremiah does not..."
Odin sighed. He had already felt, that the council was kind of divided lately...
"Oh come on," Silas said smiling, "after all you told me about the future we're going to, there is absolutely no reason to worry."
Odin nodded: "Yes... But those pictures could change... and the fact that Christopher is here now too... that could disturb the balance."
Silas looked at him frowning: "What Christopher?... Oh wait... Don't tell me, that Chris's little version came from the future, too."


(Chapter 3 written by Chrissy.W.x and Belén)