A Charmed Story - Part Eight:
Chris To The Max
Chapter 5
Piper gasped: "What??" She looked at Chris, her Chris, and shook her head: "No way, young man. It's enough with you in danger. We don't need to risk him too... No way."
"But mom!" both Chrises exclaimed at the same time making the others in the room startle.
"And you say you're not him..." Wyatt mumbled.
But Christopher heard him: "Wyatt, I am NOT! But that doesn't mean that we are not equally brave and clever."
Paige and Bianca chuckled, and Leo and Chris raised an eyebrow.
"Well... I didn't say that," the Elder-witch said, rising his hands defensively.
Michael put a hand on his friend's shoulder: "I can't let you do that, Chris. They're right... I don't wanna risk you, and even less your little self."
Christopher stared at him angrily, but Wyatt glared at his little brother making him keep silent.
It was Chris that talked: "At least listen to what I have to say..." He made a pause, in which all the others sighed and gestured, making him know he could talk. "Ok... Yes, that was my idea. And it seems that it was Christopher's too. I'm not gonna risk him at all, believe me. I'll be there. And Wyatt too. We only need time. He'll probably believe it is me and take him away."
"Powerless?" Piper asked with a sarcastic laugh. Chris and Christopher looked at each other, but didn't answer.
"He'll release Angy... and we'll have the ground prepared to attack him."
"Powerless..." Paige sighed. "That's too risky."
"I will be there. I have to take my little brother safe and sound to the future. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to him," Wyatt said.
Chris nodded: "We won't let anything happen to him."
Christopher rolled his eyes. But Leo was pensive. He wasn't sure that it was a good idea. He came from the future. He might be interfering too much... Wyatt was there with Chris's consent, but Christopher had come on his own. That wasn't good at all.
°°°°°°°°°°
Steve had just cried for a long time, he had cried his eyes out. Now it seemed to him that there were no tears left and slowly he began to calm down a little.
Nicki caressed his hair, whispering comforting words to his ear under her own quiet sobs. Her shirt was already wet from his tears, but she didn't mind. It was what he needed now, what they both needed.
"I'm so sorry, that I hurt you," he whispered suddenly.
Nicki stopped the move of her hand. She felt like her heart broke a little when she heard the guilt in his voice. He shouldn't feel like that. "That wasn't you," she said, with a voice as strong as possible, and kissed his head.
He sighed: "I know... but still somehow it was me..."
She smiled weakly: "You will maybe never forget that honey... but believe me, those images will fade away until there is nothing more left than a pale shadow."
Steve closed his eyes, when another tear fought his way down his cheek. 'How could she be so kind to me after all I have done,' he thought. Again he looked at her. There was no hate in her eyes, no anger... just some worries and deep and endless love.
"I love you so much... so much..." he said and again broke down crying. He threw himself to her arms, burying his face in her chest and cried again so desperately.
"It was so cold... so dark..." he muttered then under his sobs. "Dark and cold... I couldn't see anything..."
Nicki felt so helpless, her heart was breaking again, when her friend started to shiver in her arms.
There was a fight inside Steve's soul. One half of him told him that he just should shut up, because telling, even thinking about all that, hurt so much. But the other half knew that Tom was right, that he needed to talk. And finally that half of him won.
"I know I was walking down that road. And I felt something... it wasn't even a pain, it was just something," he said slowly. "The next thing I know is that I woke up at that dark cold place... I felt so alone." Again he cried a little more. Nicki hold him as close as possible, trying to make him feel save with her.
"I thought you would came," Steve went on, "but then a demon came... He said he had taken my blood to distract you... and I knew it was true because I felt the pain in my hand where he had cut me..." Nicki now felt her eyes welling up with tears on her own, when he said again that he had felt so alone.
"From time to time some demon came... to beat me... to cut me with their weapons... to hurt me... to..." his voice broke.
Nicki couldn't held back the tears any longer. She was glad that Steve finally opened up to her... but hearing all those things made her suffer with him. And she knew there was more to come, more things he needed to tell... He had gone through so much, too much for one person... far too much.
°°°°°°°°°°
Cole hadn't closed his eyes again, after Chris was gone, he was afraid to do so. Instead he just kept looking at the ceiling.
"What are you thinking about?" Phoebe asked.
"My dreams, " he answered.
His wife sighed: "Well... I thought you'd agreed that we forget this..."
"But what if it is a kind of magical power...???"
Phoebe smiled: "Not every thing that's mysterious has to do with magic... Dreams are coming from our subconscious... Maybe you're just afraid of losing us..."
Cole chuckled: "Yeah... that's possible... Maybe that's all because I still can't believe that all this is real... The last year had been so amazing..."
"Yeah I know," his wife answered smiling and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Yeah... but what if I wake up and find out that all this is just a dream?" he said then with a serious voice.
Phoebe grinned and slapped him on his chest.
"Outch!" he said looking at her frowning.
"See..." the empath said smiling, "no dream!"
°°°°°°°°°°
Michael sat in the kitchen while Paige tried her best to prepare something to eat. Actually she wasn't good at that but she knew it was better to let the others discuss their problems about the timetravel and Angela alone... She and Michael couldn't help at that point anyway.
"What do you think about some scrambled eggs?" He smiled weakly.
"Hey," Paige said, "I know that's a difficult situation, but... you know Chris will not let you down, and it seems Wyatt also cares a lot... So don't worry, they will find a way."
"I know," he said, "I just wish I could help..."
At that moment Paige's mobile phone rang. "Excuse me a second," she said to Michael before she picked it up, "Yeah?"
"Hey Paige, here's Kyle... just wanted to hear if you got home save...?"
"Kyle," she said smiling, "you brought me to the door... so..."
"Well... it had been about five meters and some steps to your door..."
Paige smiled. "Thanks I'm fine," she said then with a shy voice. "But... I'm sorry, I can't talk to you now... I mean... We have some things to deal with... and... I guess you should chase some thieves, too."
"Things?" Kyle asked. "THOSE things?"
"Yes," Paige admitted after a moment of hesitating.
For a moment Kyle kept silent, then he said: "Ok, so I will call you tomorrow? Or... better you call me, ok?"
She sighed relieved about that kind of reaction: "Ok, I promise I call you as soon as we finished dealing with THOSE things... Bye." Then she ended the call.
"Kyle?" Michael asked. "That officer?" Paige nodded. "So he knows?"
"Since a few days..." the witch-whitelighter answered.
Michael nodded: "Dou you like him? I mean..."
Paige grinned: "Maybe..."
°°°°°°°°°°
"But dad, why should I not do that?" Christopher said. "Why shouldn't I help when I'm here already..."
"Because you could mess up the time... and you could do it even more worse that I did," Wyatt snapped back at his little brother.
All eyes of the others turned at the twice blessed surprised.
"You did?" Chris asked. "What did you do?"
Wyatt sighed: "Nicki, Steve and Tom..."
"What did you do about them?" Piper asked confused.
Her son shrugged: "Nothing... I even didn't know them before I came to the past... But when I came back they had turned to be close friends of the family."
"Because we both had been caught instead of Cole... that changed everything, right?" Chris asked.
Wyatt nodded: "Not that you ever complained when I came back... But that taught me to be careful." The others nodded.
Suddenly again bluish orbing lights filled the room.
"Uncle Odin!" Christopher exclaimed smiling. He went over to the Elder and hugged him, ignoring the completely puzzled looks of the rest of the family - except Wyatt.
°°°°°°°°°°
Belthazor was taking a look on Julian's computers, while the colored witch paced the room nervously.
"We should have told him."
"You DID tell him too much," Belthazor said, shaking his head.
"But do you really feel that way?" Julian asked, stopping by the side of his friend and staring at his back.
The red demon sighed: "Yeah. I feel that's the way things must be done, Julian. We are here to keep the balance stable. We have helped Chris all this time, but now that Cristóbal has reappeared, I'm wondering if that was the right thing to do."
"Belthazor..." Julian tried to intervene.
But he went on: "No... listen to me. I've read about genetic twins. We're supposed to have one, at least, but with 23 years of difference in the middle. Cristóbal is the genetic twin of the new-born Chris. And Chris will have another genetic twin in 23 years. But two twins of the same age..." He shook his head. "And we both know perfectly well who's the one that does not fit."
"I'm not so sure..." Julian insisted. "Wyatt came from the future, from a future where his brother lives, and probably Cristóbal is dead. That's the right future we're making!"
Belthazor turned to look at him and said tiredly: "If that's true, let it be... But not with our help. We need to keep the balance, even that genetic balance."
Julian shook his head unbelievingly. "We have helped them all this time..."
"But this Wyatt is asking us now to help them. He comes from the future, don't you understand? If we help HIM, or do as HE wants, we might be changing something..."
"He came last time too!! We must have changed something already, come on..."
Belthazor was really helpless. He didn't know what to do. He had never felt like that... "I'm sorry..." he muttered. "That time he came with Chris, and Chris himself would have come."
"Maybe this time too... We don't know."
"That's why. That's why we must let it be." Belthazor was stubborn.
"What if we actually helped them for this Wyatt's future? What if we don't do it now? Then we could change something." Julian couldn't believe his friend did not really want to help them. They had already talked about it before Wyatt came. They knew what was going on out there... But he had a bad feeling.
Belthazor just sighed and turned around again to face the computer. He didn't feel like arguing anymore...
But Julian went on after a pause: "Tell me one thing, Belthazor... Is this what you really feel? Do you only want to keep that balance? Because I think you wanna help him. You wanna help Chris."
Belthazor shuddered a little bit, but didn't turn round.
°°°°°°°°°°
Odin freed himself and looked at that young man confused. "Uncle?" he asked.
"Never mind Odin, future consequences..." Wyatt said before Christopher could answer something.
Odin narrowed his eyes: "Wyatt?"
The blonde witch nodded smiling: "Yepp... nice to meet you, too."
"Well... actually I guess I have already an explanation for that," Leo said kind of shyly.
Piper and Chris looked at him expectantly, while Odin voiced a questioning "So?"
"Yeah, actually..." Leo hesitated, "I thought about the possible godfathers for baby-Chris, because we still haven't chosen someone..."
"You thought about him?" Piper asked pointing at Odin, not believing her ears. After all that had happened, how could he think about him, an Elder?
"Why not?" Chris said shrugging.
"Because..." Piper didn't know what to say. It was just weird and she really wasn't sure if she would like that idea.
Wyatt sighed: "Whatever... there are more important things to discuss."
"Yeah," Odin nodded, "that's why I'm here... We decided to help Michael... Not because of you, but because we had giving him and the others up, twenty years ago... Now it's time to pay off old scores."
"So you had talked to the council?" Leo asked surprised.
Odin shook his head: "No.. 'we', that is Silas, Andrew, Lyta, Yuri, Gabriel and me."
"Thanks," Michael said. He and Paige had re-entered that moment.
"Never mind," Odin replied looking at the man surprised. He had not expected him to be there... but still it was logical to be with the family.
There was a moment of silence. No one knew what to do or to say at that point. Suddenly Christopher couldn't help yawning.
Paige looked at her watch: "I guess we all could need a rest, it's close to midnight already."
Chris glanced at the huge clock. He hadn't noticed how fast the time had gone by. Then he nodded.
"If you like, I could take the kids with me up there, so that you can have a night without disturbing," Odin offered.
"NO!" Piper and Bianca exclaimed at the same time. But when she saw his surprisingly hurt look, the Phoenix added: "But if you like, you can stay with us and watch over them."
°°°°°°°°°°
Angela leaned against the stony wall, hugging her knees shivering. Meanwhile Cris was pacing in front of her, still playing with his knife.
"I can't understand that you fear me," he said suddenly. "I wasn't the one who lied to you, who stole your life... I was the one who gave you your memories back... and you still fear me."
"You've kidnapped me," she replied in a whisper.
Cris grinned: "I'm sorry, but you're the perfect bait. You're fucking little husband is surly now crying on Chris's shoulder begging him for help... and tomorrow at that time, Chris will be here, because he loves to play the hero... and then..." He stopped and chuckled.
"You will kill him..." Angela said slowly
"Oh... don't use such words sugarbaby," he said playfully, "I just want what is already mine... This is my time, my life..."
After that followed a while of silence. Then Angela heard a voice calling for Cristóbal.
"Excuse me," he said to her; "and don't run away." Then he left the cave by shimmering.
'Could that be? Could Chris had stolen his life?' she thought, when she was alone again. She couldn't believe it... but still...
She shook her head: 'He had also lied about Mike, it couldn't be that he knows... So this has to be a lie, too.'
She thought about her husband... about how he said he became a friend of Chris. That weird story with the accident. And then... her new old memories.
She thought about how she saw Chris for the first time, the real first time. He was with her husband and another person at that carrousel, talking, while she was chained and in the hands of that clown. He used her to make Chris do what he wanted, she remembered. But more important, Michael seemed to trust Chris at that point. She had seen them talking, before they noticed that she was there... They had been talking like close friends.
She remembered that altar, and Chris on it, and that she was put into a small cage... And Michael? He kept telling her that everything would be alright... that they would go out of this. 'He believed in Chris,' she thought.
She remembered that she had asked Michael about Chris. "Someone who could help us, hopefully," he had answered... 'Chris must have told him something,' her mind started to spin.
And she remembered how Michael had send her out after she had kind of dissolved in light and got out of that cage this way... She felt dizzy when she thought about that feeling. Michael had told her to leave, while he wanted to help Chris... 'He wanted to help him...'
And then she remembered, when she saw Michael again, he was hurt badly... and there was this man, he had came with Bianca, who helped him with a golden light... And yes... Bianca was also there... 'She's also one of them,' Angela thought. And Michael had came to her, or better was brought to her by that young man who had appeared from nowhere... somehow the same way like that Cris who had imprisoned her had just disappeared... 'Was that something evil, was that man evil? But he was a friend of Chris...' she thought getting more confused. She remembered that Michael knew that she was Chris wife... and she knew she was bearing a daughter. He knew so much about them... 'He knew everything...' she thought, 'and when they visited us a few weeks ago... Mike and Chris they had been so close'. "Oh my God... He still knows," she said under some sobs. Then she broke down crying. He had lied to her, he had known it the whole time.
°°°°°°°°°°
Michael was in the kitchen, trying to find something to drink, when a familiar face appeared through the door.
"Hey Chris," he said. "it's good that you're here and we can talk in private." He had been put into one room with Christopher and Wyatt so he hadn't the chance to say to Chris what he wanted to say. "I really don't want you to do that... And... Maybe it had been better if we wouldn't be that close... I mean, it's not the first time, that someone uses Angry to control you." His voice was sad, but strong and determined. "Maybe it's better, when this is all over, when we stop meeting... I mean, it would be safer for both of us... Not that I don't want to see you anymore but... I can't live with the fear that something could happen to Angy... or to you, just because of me."
He looked at Chris waiting for an reaction, but the young man just looked at him for a while. Then he grinned. "Oh man... you should thank God that you talked to the wrong person, because I guess Chris would be really hurt by that..."
Michael frowned: "Christopher?" And when the other one nodded, he added: "Oh God... I'm such an idiot."
Christopher smiled at him: "No, you're not... But believe me, trying to run away from the family, will not help you... I know how much Chris means to you, and how much you mean to him... and I don't want to start about myself or Wyatt... 'Uncle Mickey'."
Michael couldn't help chuckling a little but still he wasn't sure about all this.
Christopher went over to him and hugged him: "You are a part of this family, want it or not... We're always there for you, and for Angy... we will always protect you, also this time! And believe me, there are so many great things waiting for you..."
Michael nodded: "Thanks!"
"Don't worry about that... Uncle Mickey..." the witch-Elder said, took him by the hand and orbed with him back to their room.
°°°°°°°°°°
Piper and Bianca were in the nursery, breast-feeding their babies. Odin was also there, but he was a little uncomfortable with it. Piper and Bianca were talking about 'normal' stuff, trying to relax from this day. But still, they couldn't escape things completely.
"I hope everything is gonna be okay, with Chris and Christopher." Piper sighed. She was getting used to having two Chrises around.
Bianca looked at Hope, she was done. Bianca got her off, now Odin was really uncomfortable, he looked to the other side of the room with his hand in front of his eyes.
Bianca saw him and started to laugh: "You really have to get used to this kind of stuff." She gave Hope to him with a smile. "Just as this," she added.
Odin took the baby and smiled too. Piper looked at him, at first a little mad, but then she also started to smile. Odin loved to have a baby in his hands, you could see it at his expression. But then he looked kinda weird, he was thinking. Finally he said: "Piper, isn't it weird to change Chris's diapers?" Bianca chuckled and laughed, it was actually pretty weird, now she was thinking about it. Her husband's diapers.
But Piper answered serious: "Well, not really. I mean, it's not Chris, it's Christopher." But then she also started to laugh.
°°°°°°°°°°
Angela cried. She couldn't believe her husband lied to her, it couldn't be! She remembered something again, but she didn't want to. She wanted those pictures to stop.
Then, she had an idea. And that idea turned into an explanation, she gave herself. Maybe that Cristóbal had a power... with that power he could place weird memories in her head, maybe it isn't true. 'It has to be like that,' she thought, 'it has to.'
She didn't knew anything, except that her husband loved her. She was sure of that.
Then slowly she closed her red eyes, and fell into a slight sleep.
°°°°°°°°°°
Sometimes in the future:
Chris went through the magic school: "Matthew?" he called, when he looked into the library. But there was no sign of him. So he went to the laboratories...
"Matthew? he asked again, when he had entered the lab for the classes in potion-making. Again there was no response, but he could feel the boy. Chris sighed and couldn't help grinning. Then he turned serious again and called: "Matthew Wyatt Halliwell, get your ass here or I will become really angry!"
Seconds later the 13-year old boy turned visible in front of him. "Wow," he said grinning, "if mom would know how you talk to me, she would ground you!"
"Yeah... but she doesn't... and I'm not going to tell her... same as you..." Chris answered.
"Why should I not?"
"Because you don't want me to tell her that I found you in this laboratory practising with invisible-potions which are meant for kids who are a lot older than you... Do you?"
The boy looked down: "No, please don't tell her..."
Chris grinned: "Of course not... I'm not crazy... and I guess it would kill her to know that you're so much like me..." He winked at Matthew who grinned proudly about that comment.
"So... what's wrong that you came here to search for me... I mean it isn't six o'clock so I can't be too late and also - as far as I know - I didn't messed up any..."
"Matthew! Stop it..." Chris said chuckling. Then he turned serious: "We have a little problem at home... I want you to be there with us. And maybe we'll need your help."
"My help?" the boy asked surprised. He was practising his powers as often as possible, but he knew he wasn't that good like the others at the manor... So in which way could they need his help?
"I'll explain you later, now we need to go home, ok?" The boy nodded and the Elder-witch took his hand to orb with him back to the manor.
But before they could start doing that, Chris began to feel dizzy again. He hold his head trying to stop the confusion which was overwhelming him.
Meanwhile the boy looked at him scared. Then he took the man's hand again and brought them back to the manor on his own.
°°°°°°°°°°
Back in our time:
Steve was still lying in his bed, his head on Nicki's lap now. He had stopped crying for a while and closed his eyes. But Nicki knew he wasn't sleeping. She kept caressing his hair and cheek. There was nothing more she could do.
When the sun went down and everything in the room turned dark, Steve had started to shiver again. So Nicki had turn on the lights which had made him calm down. Steve had never feared the darkness before... But after all what he had told her today, she could understand why he did it now...
She watched him now and sighed, trying not to start sobbing again. Then she gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I love you so much," she whispered.
First there was no reaction, then Steve mumbled: "I know... I love you too."
Nicki felt again some tears rolling down her cheeks, but she wouldn't cry now... she had to be strong now, for him.
"I'm sorry," he said after a while, "I'm sorry that I hurt you, when I wasn't myself... and that I'm now hurting you, too."
"Baby, don't talk like that," she whispered. "How often shall I tell you that?"
Steve sighed, then he turned around to face her. His eyes were terrified. "I'm scared," he said slowly, "I'm so scared..."
Nicki closed her glassy eyes for a moment. Then she hugged him close and said: "I know honey... and I'm so sorry that I can't take that away from you."
"Nicki, tell me... how can I go on... with that fear inside me, how can I go on?" he said and started to cry again.
"Shhhhh," she said trying to calm him down, "baby, you will go on, and you will overcome that fear, I promise. We will all help you... We will not let you down."
"But what if I can't," he sobbed, "what if I can't?"
Nicki sighed. She didn't know what to answer. So she just hugged him and kissed his cheek.
°°°°°°°°°°
"Look, if you want to help them, just do it!" Julian said a little angry. He was still discussing with his friend... since a couple of hours already.
"Stop it!!" Belthazor screamed. "It's not about wanting... it's about doing what's right." His voice was suddenly soft, but he didn't want to show any emotions... a demons with a soft side... that was impossible. So he turned to being tough again. "And don't say I care about them, they're just witches."
"No, they're not! They're the Charmed Ones, and, well, the Charmed Sons and their family." Julian said a little confused. "Anyway, they're very strong... that's a fact... But what if they fail because we didn't help them...?? Everything here could turn into hell, with a demon on the throne - and I'm not talking about you... We can't let that happen."
"Nice speech." And it worked... Of course Belthazor didn't want that bastard of demon sitting on his thrown. He nodded with a sigh: "You're right, we have to help them." He knew this was going to be a tough fight.
°°°°°°°°°°
Tom and Veronica had been very cautious not to get caught by anyone. They had been wandering around the Underworld for hours, now it was already far beyond midnight. Veronica was a little bit scared, but Tom was completely determined. He needed to find that bastard that had done that to his friend. He really needed to.
'Thanks God,' Veronica thought to herself, 'Tom can shimmer, and if things get worse, he can freeze anyone that has discovered us.' But as much as they had walked, their mission had been fruitless.
"Come on, Tommy... let's go back home. We should not be here, and you know it...And I'm really getting tired, you know?"
Tom shook his head and went on walking stubbornly. Caves with moisture, nature around... That didn't belong to the Underworld. Where the hell hid that demon?
Tom had tortured and frozen a couple of lower-level demons on his search, to get information out of them, but the funny thing was that no one seemed to have any idea of what they were talking about. No one there remembered any story similar to Steve's, and some demons really seemed willing to stay alive.
"Tom, what if it is not a demon...?" she asked.
"It is a demon. I promise. And someone must know the..."
Suddenly he heard something. A moan. He indicated Veronica that she should not talk. He listened attentively and felt there was a woman crying.
"Oh, my... Is that a human being? Or a witch?"
"No idea..." Tom said, following the direction of the moans. The sound was nearer... Finally he saw a little entrance, almost a simple hole, to a cave, a possible lair. He peeped trying to keep himself hidden.
"Be careful, Tom..." Veronica whispered, starting to worry a lot. "That's not a good idea..."
"Shhh..." he looked inside. There was a woman crying... a woman he knew very well. He went paler. "Angela? This cannot..."
"Who's there? Chris? Or whatever your name is..." she said, shivering uncontrollably.
Tom froze, feeling himself discovered. He looked at Veronica, who didn't know what to do, and finally he ventured. "Is there someone else with you?" he asked.
Angela kept silent. What if that was another strange creature like that fake Chris?
Therefore, Tom decided to enter, in spite of Veronica's complaints.
"You?" the woman said, standing up and pressing her body against a wall, scared. "You too... you are..."
Tom sighed: "It's ok, we're the good ones... What happened?"
Angela was so scared that she wasn't able to talk, but finally she started to explain roughly the whole story in just a few words.
Tom grabbed her hand to shimmer with her: "Ok, you'll let us know later... Now we need to..." But an energy ball hit his back, and he fell on the floor. Veronica cried and ran to him, as Angela stumbled back.
"What are you witches doing here?!" a furious Cristóbal cried, preparing another ball.
Veronica begged Tom to shimmer away. The boy was in so much pain, but he wanted Angela to give him her hand again. They had to take her out of that hell. "Girl!! Give me your hand, come here, for God's sake!"
Angela was so freaked out that instead of approaching them, she stepped backwards. Cris threw another energy ball towards Tom...
"Shimmer right now, dammit!" Veronica exclaimed. He did, allowing the ball pass above through the waves he had provoked by doing so.
"SHIT!!" Cris yelled. Merciless he grasped Angela's arm, and said: "This is not a good place to keep you anymore." Then he shimmered with her away.
(Chapter 5 written by Belén, Chrissy.W.x and charmedfreak)
