A Charmed Story - Part Eight:
Chris To The Max
Chapter 6

Phoebe turned around in the comfortable fluffy bed of the hotel, and in her dreams, she stretched her arm to embrace Cole, but it fell on the bed with a muffled thud. All of a sudden she awoke to reality, and opened her eyes widely: Cole wasn't there and panic ran through her whole body.
"Cole?" she said, getting into a sitting position and looking at both of her sides. Nothing. "Cole?!" she called louder, starting to freak out. What the hell? Had he changed his mind? Was he suddenly scared of what they had done, and had escaped? What if those nightmares had made him make up his mind about his life as a witch?
None of that could be true, she knew that because they knew part of the future; that important part according to which Cole's was Chris's second father and all. But on the other hand...they had changed so much... At that very moment, Phoebe's mind was unable to focus anyway. She jumped out of her bed: "COLE!"
What if some demon had found them? What if there was still some demon after Cole, for considering him a traitor? What if... something bad had happened?
Then she noticed a soft breeze and turned her head to the short corridor. It led to the little lounge of the suite, and this to a balcony which was open. Phoebe sighed relieved, until new bad feelings assaulted her. What if he had jumped? But why? She shook her head; that was the most stupid thought that could have crossed her mind.
She rushed to the balcony and pulled the heavy curtains apart... and there he was. She took a deep breath and stepped out to him. Then,
Cole turned to face her, surprised. "Honey..." he looked at her from head to toe, realising that she was only in her night-gown. He went to her and wrapped her in her arms: "What are you doing here? You're gonna freeze..."
It was still dark outside, the moon shone in the sky, but in a few hours it would start to get light. Phoebe shivered between his strong arms: "That's what I was going to ask... What the hell are you doing here? Do you have an idea of how much you spooked me??"
Cole smiled, and caressed her hair tenderly: "I couldn't sleep anymore... I needed to think a little bit and this was the perfect place."
"Think about what, Cole...?" Phoebe asked tiredly, still between his arms.
"About everything. My whole life... Including our future."
Phoebe raised her eyes to meet his smile. "What do you mean by that?"
"What was I gonna mean, Phoebe? I've never been so happy before. Actually, I was never happy... But now all the pain makes sense, somehow. It led to this... to you. And to a wonderful future."
Phoebe could not help chuckling and smiling. "And you needed to be alone to think about that?" she asked, amused.
Cole nodded: "All good moments deserve some minutes of reflection..."
"Have you already decided something about our future?" she asked, pushing him against the wall, and kissing him lovingly on his lips.
Cole embraced her as they kissed each other, and between kiss and kiss, he answered: "I was... thinking... about... the... names of... the kids... you know."
Phoebe separated herself from him, and looked him in the eyes: "The kids? You really mean several?"
"I love kids, sweetie... I've discovered that thanks to Chris and Wyatt... We'll have tons of them running between our legs."
Phoebe chuckled again, and kissed him as she said: "And you'll be the wonderful daddy who's gonna clean their little butts when the get dirty, and their little mouths when they throw away, and the wonderful daddy who will spend night after night trying to make them sleep, and..."
Cole turned pale: "I thought we could share the tough part of the job."
Phoebe laughed and kissed him again. He wrapped her in his arms, and they kept that way, under the brilliant moon in the starry sky, ignoring the chill that threatened with causing a cold to them.
As Cole kissed her, he could not stop thinking about the true reason why he had gone out there... His weird nightmares. But these feelings kept hidden for the empath by the love that Cole was emanating at that moment.

°°°°°°°°°°

Meanwhile, the night had went on as calm as possible in the manor. None of their inhabitants got to sleep deeply, but some of them could not stay awake since they were really tired. Michael himself, even if he was so worried, had finally fallen asleep.
Only Chris had awoken in the middle of the night, unable to stay in bed, and had gone to the attic, to take a look at the book, while he reorganised his ideas and gave shape to his plan. Time was coming, and they had to save Angela...
At a determined moment, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and for a moment he thought it was Wyatt. He turned around to find out that it was Christopher, actually.
"Hey... Maxi-mm... Chris. Chris, man... you need to sleep. You have to learn that lesson for the future."
Chris frowned: "What do you mean?" He had been sleeping well for quite a long time, that was the first time in ages that he had going back to his wandering because of his worries...
"I mean that. You are always worried. I mean, not always. But when you are you do this, and this is not good."
Chris lowered his eyes: "I guess your life is healthier than mine."
"I learnt from your faults!" he grinned. Then he turned serious: "Ok... I just came to see if you were here. You were not in your room, I was scared."
Chris smiled. But then he turned serious again. "Wait... Can I ask you something?" he said. Christopher nodded. "It seems to me that... well, what I wanna ask is... Why do you hate me so much?"
This time, Christopher was caught by surprise: "Hate you?" He opened his eyes widely. "I don't hate you, not at all!"
Chris sighed: "You got mad whenever they compared you with me, and all that stuff of the name... You said we are not the same person..."
Christopher rolled his eyes, and went to him: "Because that is true. We are not the same. If we were, you would not be asking why I hate you. You'd simply know that I don't, because you would be me, and I you." He shook his head. "It's only that they keep thinking that I am YOU. I need to be ME, don't you see it? Not YOU. Sometimes I have the impression that I am a mistake. That you are the one supposed to be for them. I am only the funny young Chris whose life was perfect and..."
Chris smiled weakly: "Your life was perfect?"
Christopher nodded: "Yes, it was, and I owe you that... But that is why I am not you. That is why we are different people... I just need them not to believe that I will be like you, you know what I mean??" Chris stared at him, as he tried to explain himself. "I mean... every parent tells its sons and daughters 'You should be like this or that, look at your older brother... blablahblah', but my case is worst. They tell me 'You are not like that, look at your older version, he'd never do this and that, when he was your age he did this, and blah blah.'
He took a deep breath, as Chris chuckled, and hugged him: "You do really hate me..."
"No, I don't..." He sighed. "I love you. I Do love you so much, brother... I just want to be myself, to have my own identity..."
Chris smiled again, as he pressed his 'brother' against his chest: "I think we can fix that... Christopher."
"What a wonderful scene..." Wyatt was clasping his hands at the door, smiling. Precious... The three brothers started to laugh, and talk, and laugh, and relax... and finally they fell asleep in the attic.

°°°°°°°°°°

Odin was sitting in the nursery next to the bed of little Christopher. He leaned on the bars of the bed and observed the cute boy smiling. He was so small and vulnerable.
Then Odin took a glance at Hope. She was sleeping like her... like her uncle. 'Yeah, that's the best way, to see it... like they are brothers,' Odin thought, thinking about the two Chrises. Genetically the same, but still so different.
Then he looked at Wyatt who was also sleeping soundly. Odin smiled and shook his head. Five hours with those kids... really being with them... and he already loved them.
A few moments later bluish orbing lights filled the room. "Odin what are you do..."
"Shhhhhhhh..." Odin interrupted Silas who had just materialised, "you're going to wake them up."
Silas sighed: "But what are you doing here?"
Odin looked back at little Christopher smiling. "Babysitting," he answered.
"What?" exclaimed his friend as quiet as possible. "Up there everything turns to be a great mess and you're babysitting?"
Odin sighed and explained: "Half an hour ago, little Christopher was awake... he was hungry. Piper had prepared some milk for the kids so that I could feed them if necessary..." He made a break shaking his head. Then he went on: "Holding that small boy and watching him drinking... that was overwhelming, Silas... I think that was the first time, I really understood for which reason we're existing... we have to keep the world safe for those little wonders... for them and all the other kids in the world..."
Silas shook his head while he watched his friend. "Meeting at 9 o'clock," he said, then he orbed away.
Odin just nodded absent, his eyes still focused on the small boy.
Piper stood behind the nearly closed door. Without being noticed by them, she had watched the scene between the Elders through the small gap.
She smiled. 'Maybe he isn't such a bad choice for the godfather of my baby,' she thought. Then she went back to her room, lay down and cuddled up into Leo's arms.

°°°°°°°°°°

Chris jumped up startled when he felt someone shimmering in. He was awake within a second, ready to defend himself. But it wasn't a demon. "Tom!" he exclaimed, when he saw his friend wounded.
Meanwhile Wyatt opened his eyes slowly, trying to look around. He noticed Tom and Veronica in the middle of the attic, and Chris was about to start healing the young man. Wyatt sighed and was about to close his eyes again, when he saw how Tom took Chris's hand and shimmered with him away, before the Elder-witch had a chance to react..
Within a second Wyatt was completely awake and jumped up. "Where are they gone?" he yelled at Veronica.
The woman frowned: "Who are you?"
The twice blessed looked at her confused, then he remembered that they had never met in the past before. So he introduced himself: "I'm Chris's brother, Wyatt... So where are they gone?"
Now Veronica was the one confused. Even if Tom had told her about the adult version of the 2-years-old boy she knew... She was about to say something, when she saw Christopher on the sofa, who was still sleeping. "W-W-What's going on here?" she asked kind of absent. Her mind was starting to spin...
Wyatt took her hands and forced her to look into his eyes: "Where is Chris?"
Suddenly afraid of him, Veronica tried to flinch, but he hold her tight waiting for an answer. "I... I guess they are trying to help Michael's wife..." she said with fear in her voice.
"WHAT?" Wyatt exclaimed. But before he could sense his brother and follow him, they orbed back to the attic.
As soon as Chris and Tom materialised, the latter collapsed and fall down to the floor.
"What happened?" Wyatt and Veronica asked at the same time, while Chris started to heal him, finally.
"Nothing," the Elder-witch said sadly, "they were already gone."
"DAMNED!" Wyatt cursed. He went over to the wall and punched it with his fist.
"Hey!" Chris yelled. "That isn't helping!" Meanwhile he had finished the healing.
Veronica, who had sat down next to Tom, hugged him. Both were startled by Wyatt's outburst. Tom didn't know him very well, even if he owed him his life, but he had never thought that Wyatt could act like that.
"But it's the life of my girl that is at the stake here!" the blonde man kept on yelling, while Christopher started to wake up too, because of all those noises.
Chris went over to his brother and grabbed him by his shoulders, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "I know," he said with a calm voice, "that's why we need you to cool down... you're not helping when your freaking out... but we need your help... she needs it... So don't lose it brother, ok?"
Wyatt nodded, his eyes turning watery. "It's just... I love her so much Chris... and if she would be erased from the..."
The Elder-witch sighed and pulled his brother into a tight hug. "That will not happen, brother," he said, "I promise."
Meanwhile Tom and Veronica had stood up and were observing the still sleepy Christopher, who was rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Ok, Chris" Tom said with a kind of shaky voice and without taking his eyes from that 'twin' of his friend, "could you explain that to me please? And then I have some more bad news for you..."

°°°°°°°°°°

Cris had pushed Angela into a small cage. Then he had left her again without any other comment. Now she was alone again. She was freezing.
The cage she was in, was completely empty, except of herself. And the cave was as empty as the cage. It was dark, nevertheless she could still see some of the things around her... but not much.
Still Angela felt nothing but fear. She sat down, leaning against the bars and hugging her knees.
'That can't be true,' she thought, 'that must be a really bad nightmare...'
Then her mind turned back to the young man... Was he trying to help her? She wasn't sure... And the way he disappeared... that was the same way like that false Chris had done it...
'How did they do that?' she thought.
That young man... she knew him... she knew him from her memories. 'If he is real... than my memories are also real...' "Oh God... he knew... Michael knew everything..." she sobbed and then she broke down crying again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Julian was happy. Somehow. He knew that Belthazor had always wanted to help them, in the bottom of his fiendish heart, but reason told him constantly that he was a demon, that he shouldn't help a witch. Then his heart, pretending to be his reason, said that it wasn't because he liked them; just because he had to keep the tip of the balance stable.
But Julian knew Belthazor. He knew him very well. Therefore, he knew what he really wanted, or at least what he did not want, and he did not want to let this Chris die. There was no reason for that. Just his heart.
And now, he, Julian, had to talk with Chris and Wyatt, and tell them what they really knew about Cris.

°°°°°°°°°°

Nicki had fallen asleep by Steve's shaking body. Even if the lights were on, and she was so bad to sleep with light, she was so tired that she had finally fallen.
Steve, however, was not able to get to sleep. He kept his eyes wide open as he stared at her, with pity and fear. He would not overcome that. He would have to live with that... or die before. He was not so strong as to face that terror all his life... He wasn't that strong or brave...
Tears wet his face while he kept watching his love. That was so cowardly... What he was thinking... Nicki would never forgive him, not even after dead. He had to do it for her, if not for himself... And for Tom, he had promised that. Suddenly an idea struck his mind, and his heart leapt.
At that moment Nicki started to wake up and yawned. "Hey..." she smiled sadly. "Did you get to sleep?" She stroked his hair.
Steve shook his head: "Nicki..."
"Yeah?" she frowned, sitting on the bed, as she saw his determined expression.
"I want you to erase my memories."
"What? No way, Steve... And you know I can't do that."
"You can... You can steal some Elder-dust from Leo, or Chris... Or even John... Please..." he begged.
Nicki shook her head: "No... You can't ask me that, Steve. I don't wanna do that. What if I erase more than we should? I could even lose you... No..."
"Nicki, please..." he sobbed, "I can't... I won't be able to go on living with those nightmares. I need you to do that for me..."
Nicki stared at him anxious and hesitant. She loved him so much... She couldn't deny him anything. She just couldn't, but that... That was too much. And his eyes went through hers unmercifully.

°°°°°°°°°°

"So this is Chris..." Tom tired to understand.
"Christopher," the young future Halliwell corrected.
"Christopher. That is Chris, actually. From the future, and..."
"No. I'm Christopher, just that. He is Chris from this time, and in my time, I still have this Chris, therefore, I am Christopher, and he is Chris," he explained exasperated, before the amused smiles of the others.
Tom sighed: "Ok... Christopher from the future... And we have this other Chris, our Chris..." Chris nodded.
"And Wyatt... From the future too," continued Tom, turning to look at Wyatt, who also nodded, with his arms folded in front of his chest.
"And then... there's another twin, Cris... Cristóbal... That demon that we thought we'd already vanquished."
"Actually he escaped," Chris clarified.
"But he was powerless." All the three Halliwells nodded, and Tom turned to Veronica: "This is gonna be tough..."
"Ok... But we have more to worry about," Wyatt said, unfolding his arms. "Michael must be still asleep, and mom, dad and Bianca... But I think we should start doing something."
"At least we've got something... I mean, we know where he was hiding Angela... Maybe we can get something out of that," Chris intervened. "We'll have to keep to the original plan..." He stared at Christopher, who smiled.
"And I'll be really happy to help with that," he said.
Wyatt nodded: "Remember he wants you powerless. I mean, Chris, but..."
"I know," his little brother said determined. "But I'll do it anyway. You don't need to protect me all the time, Wyatt. I know what I do... believe me or not."
Chris smiled, realising what a good brother Wyatt must have been for his little self, and how much he had missed that... and also what Wyatt meant when he had talked to him about that too.
Suddenly, Julian shimmered in the attic, making all of them startle.
"Julian!" Wyatt exclaimed, surprised of seeing him there. The colored witch grinned.

°°°°°°°°°°

Around half past six Piper entered the nursery. Odin had little Christopher in his arms caressing his cheek. "You're such a cute boy... I'm sure you're parents are very proud of you..." the Elder whispered.
Piper cleared her throat, making Odin look up startled.
"Piper!... Good morning!" he said.
She smiled. "Good morning Odin," she said, went over and took the baby to feed it. "How was your night?"
Odin smiled: "Amazing... Just amazing... Now I understand why Leo didn't want to give up all this." Piper looked at him, then nodded.
For a moment there was nothing but silence, and Odin started to feel uncomfortable. He wasn't sure if Piper liked him to be around... after all...
"Well," he said then, "I guess I should go up there, and try to find out if there is something new..."
Piper nodded again, but before he orbed away she add: "Breakfast at eight o'clock... would be nice if you could join us."
Odin nodded with a smile: "I'll try to come." Then he orbed away.
Piper sighed when the orbing lights disappeared. Then he looked at her baby: "Do you like him?" Baby Christopher chuckled, making his mother smile.
"Good morning," Bianca said suddenly. She had entered the room just that second, to look after her girl. "Where is Chris?" she asked then. "Have you seen him?"
Before Piper could answer they heard some noises form the attic. She looked up, shaking her head. "I guess he's doing what he always does... and I'm afraid my other sons are with him."
Bianca sighed. Then she took a look on her sleeping princess and caressed her cheek softly. She smiled: "Grandma Piper will watch over you, while I go to look after your daddy."
Piper couldn't help smiling when Bianca left the room to climb up the stairs.

°°°°°°°°°°

When the first rays of the morning-light found their way into the room, Cole opened slowly his eyes. He was still lying on the sofa, where they had fallen asleep again, with Phoebe snuggling in his arms, sleeping peacefully.
He observed her for a while. Then he smiled. She was so beautiful in the warm light of the morning. 'How can God be so good to me?' he thought and kissed her cheek.
He tried not to think about his nightmares that moment. He didn't want to... And anyway the would be back home at the manor in a couple of hours.
Then another thing crossed his mind. He was married now, he had a wife... a wife to take care of.. and he really wanted to do that... the classical way.
Again he kissed her. Slowly she began to wake up. He chuckled when he saw a smile on her lips.
When Phoebe finally opened her eyes to meet his, he whispered softly: "Good morning." Then he kissed her nose.
Phoebe smiled and rose to the half. For a moment she looked at him, then she gave him passionate kiss.
"Wow," he muttered, "do that every morning, and I'll be the most happiest man in this world."
Both chuckled a little. But Cole turned serious again. "Honey, there is something I want to talk to you about," he said.
Phoebe frowned: "So serious... at that time of the day?"
He nodded: "Look... we're married now, and... how shall I say it..."
"Just say it honey," Phoebe said smiling sweetly.
Cole looked at her, he knew she would be upset about that, but... "Ok," he said, "I want to work as a lawyer again, and I want you to quit you job... I'm going to take care for you, there is no need for you to go to work, ok? And I want to find a nice home for us... for just you and me..." When he had spoken out his thoughts, Cole sighed, waiting for her complainings.
Phoebe just looked at him, first a little confused. But she felt his immense love for her, so she smiled: "Ok, no and no."
Cole sighed, but before he could say something Phoebe went on.
"I agree, when you really want to do that, to be a lawyer... than do it! I would never complain about that..." she said caressing his chest softly. "But I won't quit my job... I can't... honey I love writing... and I love to help people with that..."
"And your 'ex'?"
Phoebe smiled: "So you're jealous?"
"No," Cole complained, and then added blushing, "maybe a little."
"Don't be honey... I love you, only you!" God, he was so cute. She loved him so much and she was sure he loved her too... she knew it.
"I know," he answered and kissed her again.
Phoebe smiled: "And about our home... we already have one... And you yourself told me that Wyatt had mentioned some enlargements... Maybe it's just time to start with that..."
Cole sighed, then he nodded: "Alright... So I guess, I will search for an architect..."
Both started to chuckle, then they kissed again.

°°°°°°°°°°

Sometimes in the future:
As soon as Matthew had shimmered them to the attic, Chris broke down. He was holding his had and cursing in a way Matthew had never heard him before.
"DAD!" he exclaimed and knelt down next to him. The boy felt the fear rising inside him. "MOM!" he yelled. "GRANDPA! UNCLE SILAS!"
"I'm alright," Chris whispered, when he heard the panic in his son's voice.
"Dad," Matthew sobbed. He felt so helpless.
"I'm ok," his father said, grasping the hand of his boy.
At that moment Bianca shimmered in, the Elders followed seconds later. They rushed over to him, to see what was going on. But Chris already rose to the half, the headache was gone, but...
"Are you ok, honey?" Bianca asked. But Chris didn't answer. He was just staring into the nothing. So the Phoenix turned to her son: "What happened?"
Matthew shrugged: "He wanted to orb home and then..."
"Oh my God," Chris muttered suddenly interrupting his son.
Leo and Silas helped Chris to stand up and to sat down on the far too old sofa. Everyone looked really worried.
Silas sighed and put his hand on his friend's shoulder: "Chris, come on, tell us what happened..."
The Elder-witch kept silent, but a tear went down his cheek.
Matthew looked at his father scared. He had never seen him cry before... or maybe sometimes because of too much laughter... but never in that way.
He fought his way through the adults surrounding his father and sat down on his lap, hugging him. "Dad, are you ok?" he asked shyly.
Chris closed his eyes for a moment, then he hugged his boy tightly. "I'm alright, don't worry."
"But what happened?" now Leo asked.
Chris sighed: "I only realised this minute that I lost one of my best friends."
"Who?" Silas asked worried, cause the way like this happened could only mean one thing...
"Steve," Chris answered.
Everyone looked at him frowning. Bianca sat down next to him and kissed his cheek. Then she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"But..." Leo rose to speak, "Steve committed suicide over twenty years ago."
Chris again closed his eyes, trying to handle the emotions that were overwhelming him. "That isn't right," he said slowly with a little anger. "He never did that... He never freaked out that way... He overcame his fears, we went after Rhashirk together, we vanquished him together..." He made a short break, looking at the other who tried to understand. Then he went on: "He's supposed to live... He is supposed to marry Nicki, and to have twins with her... Hell, I've talked to him yesterday!"
Matthew hugged his father closer, instinctively. Also Bianca hugged him, trying to comfort him. Leo and Silas looked at each other. That was a real big change in the time, when all this was true.
"We have to stop this dad," Chris said suddenly, looking deep into his fathers eyes, with tears in his own.
Leo nodded: "But how?"
Chris turned to his son: "Hey Matthew... would you like to help us rescuing the world?"
The thirteen year-old boy looked at his father and swallowed: "How could I? I'm not..."
"Chris what's your plan?" Bianca asked worried about her son's safety. She had no idea what Chris was planing.
The Elder-witch sighed, still looking at his son: "Hope said you're a telepath... and she said, because you're kind of out of time, like me and your mom, you could maybe contact also people who are not in this - in our time... especially your uncle Wyatt..."
"WHAT?" Bianca exclaimed scared by all this. This was their son Chris was talking about, damned!
"But dad... You know I can only shimmer and maybe threw something telekinetically... But I never..."
Chris just looked at him, then he kissed his forehead. "Your powers had been bound before you had been born... believe me, deep down inside you, you have that power."
"Honey, you can't do that," Bianca begged, "he's thirteen... he's too young for that..."
Chris looked at her: "He's the only chance to turn the things right... to bring the Elders back on our side... He's Steve's only chance."
Tears were welling up in Bianca's eyes. She didn't want her little baby to do that... That was to much... She didn't want him to end up like her husband. Even if she knew that Matthew already was practising with his powers as often as possible... she didn't want that for him...
"Dad... I'm afraid..." Matthew said, "I can't do that, I'm not able to..."
Leo sighed: "Chris I agree with Bianca and him... That's to risky."
But Silas shook his head: "When those things Chris told us, had been true... than it's worth it."
"Yeah, maybe..." Leo snapped back, "but that's my grandson you're talking about..."
"Yeah," Chris said angry to those two Elders, "and my son!" Then he turned to Matthew again: "And therefore you're the only one to decide that... It's your decision, only yours..."
Matthew looked from his father to his mother and than back again. He knew that his dad wouldn't complain if he would say no. He was sure... And he hardly understood all that... all that timetravelling stuff... But he knew his dad wouldn't ask him if it wouldn't be important. He sighed and nodded: "What do I have to do?"
Chris closed his eyes and sighed relieved. He smiled for a second. Then he looked at his son serious again. "I'm sorry, buddy," he whispered. And Bianca was sure that he meant it. Then Chris cast a spell.
"Calling for all the ancestors of mine
and beggin' to every magic in every time
end the spell that was once done
return the powers to my son."

A second later some little spot's of lights were circling through the air surrounding that fearful looking young boy.


(Chapter 6 written by Belén and Chrissy.W.x)