Happy Easter Everyone!
I don't own Charmed

They'd gone the farthest they've gone without hitting a dead end. For that Chris was thankful but his thankfulness quickly turned to bitterness as he found a double dead end. 'Two for the price of one' he bitterly thought.

Piper watched as eighteen year old Chris stood over his grandfather with extended hands and an expression of severe concentration. Various wires and tubes were attached to the man as the ventilator aided in his breathing. It was apparent that Victor Bennett wasn't long for this world. After a while Chris's hands balled up into fists and he viciously kicked the chair behind him sending it flying.

Chris: Damn it! Why can't you heal?

His self-loathing and anguish is momentarily casted aside when he sees his aunts standing in the doorway eyeing the dismantled chair. Chris ignored the looks of concern and focused on his last ditch effort to save his grandfather's life. He quickly grabbed Paige's hand and led her towards his grandfather's side.

Chris: Aunt Paige. Thank God. Heal him.
Paige: You know I can't heal human ailments.
Chris: It's not an ailment! It's cancer.

His misty eyes pleaded with her to find a way to save his grandfather. Victor had always been more of a father to Chris than anyone and he'd already lost his mother. Sure he still hand Aunt Paige, Aunt Phoebe, and their families but he'd always felt like a spectator when it came to them.

Chris: Paige… please. Don't give up on him.
Paige: Don't you think I tried to heal him Chris! I don't want him to die but it's out of my hands.
Chris: Damn it! I can't accept that. I won't.

Chris turned his back on his aunts and extended his hands over his grandfather, returning to the same actions he was doing when the memory began.

Phoebe: Chris, honey.
Chris: I can do this. I have to do this.

Phoebe put her hands on Chris's shoulder and he turned to face her reluctantly. Her heart broke as she saw his face contorted with grief. Immediately she did what she thought was the right thing. She pulled him down into an embrace and held him there until he whispered a startling confession.

Chris: He's all I have left.
Phoebe: That's not true Chris. You have us.

He lifted his head up from her shoulder and steeled his gaze. For years, he'd been quiet and just kept his comments to himself but he couldn't do it anymore. He had to speak his mind

Chris: You're a good mother Phoebe. You balance your obligations as a wife, mother, columnist, and witch but you're pulled in so many directions that some people tend to fall into the cracks. That man lying in that hospital bed… dying, he's the person that was there for me day in and day out, not just when it's convenient.
Phoebe: (teary eyed) That's not true.
Chris: Every time I ask you for a moment of your time and you say aw sweetie I can't right now or that we'll talk later and we never do. Three. That's the number of sporting events you went to in my high school career and Paige you're track record isn't much better. I love you both- you're family but we might as well be strangers.

Piper: What do you mean you were alone? Where's Wyatt? Leo?
Chris: After mom died, Wy disappeared. His thirst for revenge, thirst for that power, and desire to control brought out the unresolved issues of his kidnapping and warped my brother into Lord Wyatt. I didn't see him again until he'd already taken over the better part of our world. Leo, so heartbroken by the loss of his wife and his son- the only son as far as he was concerned- led to him barricading himself up there. I never saw him again and frankly, I didn't care. He was never there for me anyways.

All Piper could manage was to form an o with her mouth and continue watching the memory. She wanted to cry for her son. At the age of fourteen he was left by his parents and brother. Then at eighteen he'd lose his grandfather. That's when his voice hits her head dredging up a memory of her own. 'Well, then pay attention because the world I grew up in families hardly existed. I never had a chance to know mine.'

Chris: If you can't help me, then I'll find someone who can…

Piper: Where did you go?
Chris: Up there and then I spent the better part of a week looking for Wyatt but it was all in vain. He died anyways.
Piper: I'm sorry.
Chris: Don't be. Victor Bennett won't die because of lung cancer. When Victor and I were bonding I made a not so subtle hint that it'd be in his best interest to stop with the cigars.

Another memory was triggered silencing the boy immediately.

Twenty year old, Sergeant Christopher Halliwell was in Darfur on his last tour of active duty and under heavy fire. The smell of bodies roasting in the heat made his stomach churn but he made no comment. He was a soldier. He kept marching on through gunfire, bombings, and tropical terrain. Some would say he had a death wish and maybe he did. He took refuge behind a pile of bodies along with what was left of his platoons.

Chris: We need to capture high ground if we hope to get anywhere.
Specialist: See ya' on the other side Serg."
Chris: On my mark.

Chris fired in rapid succession, successfully taking out a portion of the other sides platoon.

Chris: Now. Move, move, move.

A veteraned finger pumped the trigger at every movie target not covered head to toe in camoflauge. The semi-automatic fired rounds of silver bullets taking down target after target. A primitive cry escapes his lips as a bullet grazed his shoulder but he kept pushing onward until he and the Specialist were the only two remaining at the top of the hill.

Boom!

Just as quickly as he took over the top of the hill, they were in danger of losing it. Explosions were to the left and right of him. His specialist was badly burned and their deaths went from probable to imminent. Until Chris did the unthinkable and used his powers on the battlefield. He orbed his comrade and himself into the Humvee at their point of retreat.

Chris: Man down! Mission Failure. Explosion victim. Chest trauma and severe burns. ETA unknown. Standby.

Chris looked at his mother. She's sniffling and trembling and he can see how much she regrets her decision to invade his memories. Unable to sling her up on a cross, he puts one arm tight around her waist and directs her away the best that he can. When she stops abruptly, he stands by her side and does what he can to support her.

Piper: I'm so sorry, Chris.

He hates that she's broken down into sobs again and it breaks his heart to see the pain and remorse in her eyes; the choke that's taken captive her voice, the tears on her face. She barriers her head into his neck as he slides down the wall of the building taking her with him. He even cradles her.

Chris: It's… Everything'll be okay.

Uncertainty rang through his voice but neither had the strength to question it. If she did, she'd only be that much closer to the edge she'd already been teetering on since her death. He, himself, was dangerously close but he'd never let her see him fall.

Piper: How do you know?
Chris: You told me it would be.

Billie Jenkins stood on an edge of her very own. In her arsenal is the ultimate power that only witches with great destinies. She'd stashed her power away until she could control it, dubbing it far to potent and dangerous to be used carelessly. But Chris and Piper hadn't woken up in two days and if he wasn't coming to her, she decided to go to him.

While Phoebe was at her new/old job under a new alias, Paige and Leo were busy with two very crabby children that only wanted their mommy. Now was her chance. Since there was nothing she could do from the outside, Billie was going in.

Chris sat holding his mother in his embrace, eyeing the building opposite to him. Suddenly the desire to get out of this godforsaken hellhole led him to bring out his inner daredevil. He releases his grip on his mother and stands before the building, eyeing it like a lion stalking its prey. Quickly he adapted from lion to monkey as he scaled the drainpipe until he was standing on the roof.

It was like an ocean, an endless space that stretched to the horizon. It was a fear confirmed. Personal gain decided not to show key moments in time. It was his life. Our values, our actions define who we are and every action he'd ever made was in this maze. Over twenty years of memories, actions, thoughts linger there. He wasn't going to be able to get them out. Climbing down he thought of how he was going to break the news to Piper. How many more memories could she take? How many more can he take?

Piper: Did you see which way we should go?
Chris: It's best to stay put.
Piper: What do you mean?
Chris: I mean this maze is as vast as the Ocean. We're screwed!
Billie: Still being a cynic, Chris?

A smile crept onto the whitelighter's face as he heard her voice, the music to his ears. He turned to see the beautiful blonde he has the pleasure of calling his girlfriend. Immediately, he bridges the gap between them and wraps his arms around his waist. Her arms go around his neck and she hugs him like he's a lifeline.

Chris: What? How-
Billie: I astral projected.
Chris: You astral projected? Man, my baby's amazing.
Billie: And my baby's in a comatose dream state.

Chris looks right and then left, like he'd completely forgotten his surroundings.

Chris: Oh yeah, how 'bout that.

She playfully slaps his shoulder and he can't hold in a chuckle. Being with her made him light up and the thought of being stuck in this maze for all eternity almost bearable. Of course, he couldn't be that selfish. Piper had a family at home and they all had lives outside of this maze.

Chris: Maybe if we get Piper, Phoebe, and Paige to say a reversal spell at the same time on both ends, we can get out of here.
Piper: That could work.

Chris finally broke his hold on Billie and turned towards his mother and nodded. He knelt down in the sand and began writing the spell with his finger. Once he was done, Billie looked over his shoulder and committed the words to memory.

We call upon the power of three
To set Piper and Chris free,
So that they may leave behind,
The prison that is Chris's mind.

Chris: Thirty minutes starting…now.
Billie: See you on the other side, boyfriend.

When he opened his eyes it was like he was opening them for the first time. Behind soft eyelids he closed them briefly trying to adjust to the harshness of reality's lite. After a few blinks she's a shadowed figure hovering over him contradicting the light. Billie Jenkins the angel from his nightmares- the answer to her prayers.

Chris: Did I die?
Billie: What? What makes you think you died?
Chris: There's an angel hovering over me.

She smiled that soft, sweet smile and he couldn't help himself. He put one arm behind him to support his partially sitting up position and tangled his other hand in her hair, pulling her down for a lucky-to-be-alive/my-god-i-missed-you kiss. They didn't break until they hear a four person throat clear and even then he hesitated before breaking it up.

Billie: Don't look now but I think we're being watched.
Chris: Yep.

The minute he was in the upright position, he found two sets of slender long arms were wrapped around him and a chorus of apologies, we love you, and we missed yous bombarded his ears. Helplessly he looked to Piper and silently pleaded with her to get them off of him.

Piper: So, who's hungry? C'mon Chris. All that maze traveling has got me famished.
Chris: I'm not going anywhere with you, Piper.
Piper: I just thought…
Chris: You thought what? A little heart to heart, sharing and caring would make it all go away? You invaded in my brain, turned your back on your magical destiny, betray everything I stood for. Damn it you forgot who I was and somewhere along the way you must have forgotten who you are too because you're not the Charmed Ones I know... And until you are I think it would be best we go our separate ways.

And with that Chris reached out, grabbed Billie's hand and orbed out leaving the rest of the room's inhabitants dreadfully numb or emotionally distraught…

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