FALSE MEMORIES
My first posted story here. Also my first Charmed Fanfic, although I have written fanfiction for other shows.
Disclaimer: The characters in Charmed do not belong to me. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Summary: Loved the Piper/Leo/Chris family dynamic in Season 6 so that's when this story is based. Set after Chris-Crossed and Prince Charming. Nobody knows who Chris is yet, but they're about to find out, courtesy of an unexpected visitor from the future…
Notes: Phew! Didn't think I'd manage to finish this before I went on holiday. Apologies for any rough edges I've missed, but I thought posting it now would be preferable to making you wait another week for an update.
Thanks for all the reviews – sorry no individual replies this time round – got to finish packing! I will try to answer any questions from the last chapter's reviews next time. Anyway, let's get on with it…
Chapter 21
Chris wrinkled his nose in disgust as he ducked into the abandoned warehouse. Didn't Darklighters ever take a bath?
To add extra authenticity to his disguise, he'd filched a long, black trench coat from the Darklighter, who he'd disarmed with brutal efficiency, a short while earlier. However, he was now wishing he hadn't. The smell emanating from the suspiciously stained garment was distinctly unpleasant – a mixture of rank body odour, and god only knows what else, which turned his stomach and made his skin crawl.
Pushing down the desperate urge to throw up, he strode confidently across the dusty, concrete floor to the trapdoor situated in the centre of the vast, empty room, and beat out a rhythmic knock on the square of wood with the heel of his right foot.
Seconds later, there was a scraping sound as the door was unbolted from the inside before it was flung open with a loud crash. "Password?" a disembodied voice asked from within.
"Hellfire," Chris intoned with a resigned roll of his eyes.
The doorman – or rather door-demon – immediately admitted him inside and he descended the winding staircase into the noisy Basement Bar below. Demons were so unimaginative sometimes – not to mention incredibly stupid. It had only taken him about half an hour of good, old-fashioned detective work to break the security of the place. They didn't even change the password regularly either – it had been the same one ever since he'd first checked out this secret hideout, several months earlier.
When he'd first arrived in the past, he had played a hunch and decided to visit his elder brother's favourite place to hang out with his evil cronies. The Bar hadn't changed much in twenty years, he discovered, although the security measures were far stricter in his own time. The underground club was semi-circular in shape with the mahogany-topped bar located along the straight edge. Chrome bar stools lined the counter, while round tables encircled the circumference of the room, leaving a large, open space in the middle, where various demons, darklighters, and even some humans, congregated in small groups.
It was a useful place to pick up information about Underworld activities so Chris was a frequent visitor here, although he did usually move about incognito so not to draw attention to himself. It seemed as good a place as any to find out how to enlist in the up-and-coming Darklighter Army, especially as he strongly suspected that Wyatt's demon mentor had introduced him to this otherworldly haunt in the first place.
After ordering himself a beer that looked as if it had been siphoned off from the dregs at P3, he casually seated himself at an empty table, which was conveniently located next to a cluster of darklighters, talking animatedly amongst themselves. Snatches of conversation drifted across towards him as he pretended to sip at his drink, and he listened to their discussion with growing interest.
"He always finds us the best prey – powerful witches and their whitelighters – and everyone gets their fair share of the spoils, whatever their rank."
"Yeah and what's in it for him?" a tall, rangy darklighter with bleached-blonde hair enquired.
"Personal glory I expect. The 'Dark One' is coming, you know – he who will unite the entire Underworld and overthrow the Powers of Good forever. Witches, whitelighters and even Elders will be at our mercy before we know it."
The sceptical darklighter snorted with derision. "Sounds like he's got a screw loose to me," he said. "What about the Charmed Ones, hey? Not mention the eldest chippy's son – isn't he supposed to grow up into Mr All-Knowing and Super-Powerful?"
"Well that's just it – he's found a way to neutralise the infernal witches and their boy for good."
"You don't say, and how's he planning on doing that?"
"I'd tell you if I knew but only the generals are privy to that kind of classified information."
"Figures. So when do we get to meet this illustrious commander-in-chief then?" the white-blonde darklighter asked in a cynical tone, obviously unimpressed with the sales pitch.
"You don't," the recruiter replied, "Only the most worthy have the honour of meeting him face-to-face. You have to prove your loyalty to the regiment before you're granted that privilege."
Looking down into his drink, Chris absently swirled the amber liquid around in his glass, his mind working overtime as he tried to process everything he was hearing. He was surprised that their nemesis was predicting Wyatt's conversion so far in advance of it happening. The plan to turn his brother evil may already be in motion, but it wouldn't come to fruition for fifteen years or more.
Then again, the vast and super-efficient army that Wyatt now controlled must have taken years to assemble and beat into shape. The Darklighters of this time weren't known for their teamwork skills after all. One thing was clear however – the demon after his brother definitely had something to hide. He went out of his way to conceal his identity from everyone - his own cohorts, as well as his enemies. There had to be a reason for that.
With a jolt, Chris suddenly realised that the group of darklighters were getting to their feet and preparing to leave. Picking up his stolen crossbow, he hurried after them as they ascended to the warehouse above. As the trap door clanged shut behind him, the army recruiter spotted his presence and his slate-grey eyes instantly narrowed in suspicion.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded harshly.
"Sirch," Chris quickly replied, drawing on the pseudonym that he had used many times before in similar circumstances.
It was an anagram of his own name, and the only one ever to figure it out had been Wyatt, when he'd stupidly tried to infiltrate his brother's inner circle a few years back. He had done it because he wanted to find out what, if anything, they knew about the safe haven that Leo and the other Elders had set-up for a group of magically talented adolescents, all still too young and inexperienced to roam free in the outside world.
Chris had a vested interest in keeping them well hidden because his cousins and some of his friend's younger siblings were amongst the chosen few. He'd lost too many family members to this new and harsh reality as it was, and he absolutely refused to lose any more. His plan had backfired badly on him however.
On discovering his brother's deception, Wyatt had acted swiftly and decisively, cornering and capturing his sibling with calculated efficiency. Chris's mind shuddered back from the events that had followed – he didn't like to think about it too much. Even now, he found it difficult to accept the psychological torture his brother - who he had so admired growing up - was capable of inflicting on an innocent mind. It was a nightmare he preferred to suppress, except for one thing – the guardian angel who had helped him escape from Wyatt's clutches.
The mysterious saviour who had spirited him away from his Underworld prison had been his Dad, Chris knew that now. However, at the time, anything good that Leo ever did for him was instantly erased from his memory by Wyatt's spell, leaving him with only a hazy remembrance of events. The enchantment had clouded his mind to the point where he hadn't even recognised his own flesh and blood. It all served to preserve the illusion that his Dad was indifferent to him, but now that the spell was no more, Chris could see that Leo had never really left his side.
He had healed his son's wounds on any number of occasions, and in this particular instance had nursed him back to mental health with a father's gentle care. Chris had always believed that an unknown spirit from the other side had helped him; someone who wanted him alive and well, so that he could fight for what was good and what was right in the world. It seemed so obvious now – how could he have not known the truth?
Leo's mark was on everything that his mysterious benefactor had done for him – from the familiar, comforting sensation of his healing power, right down to the potion he'd given him to help restore his shattered psyche after Wyatt's heavy-handed interrogation. It had been the same potion that his Aunt Paige had made for him after his Mom died, the one that filled him with a warm, fuzzy feeling and allowed him to think clearly, despite the intense emotional pain. How could he have not realised that the person who gave it to him must be a member of his own family? They were the only ones who knew the secret recipe…
"I said what do you want?" the recruiter demanded, calling Chris's attention back to the present – or rather the past. The darklighter had raised his weapon and was now aiming it at the young witch-whitelighter's heart, his finger poised on the trigger mechanism.
"Hey! Relax man," Chris drawled nonchalantly, holding up his hands in gesture of surrender. "I couldn't help overhearing – you were discussing this new army everyone's been talking about, right?"
"Right," the recruiter agreed, lowering his weapon slightly.
"So is this where I join up? Sounds like something I'd be interested in. I mean all those pretty witches to rob of their precious whitelighters - definitely my idea of fun."
There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the surrounding darklighters and the recruiter lowered his weapon back down to his side. "All right – all those interested in joining up, follow me," he instructed and black-orbed out.
Chris quickly followed and found himself in a derelict apartment, somewhere in the less salubrious part of town. Looking around, he saw that the majority of the other darklighters had followed – the previously sceptical one among them.
"Kaiyen – more potentials," the recruiter announced to a wizened-looking darklighter, who was seated at a desk in the corner of the musty-smelling apartment.
Kaiyen nodded and drew what looked like an old-fashioned ticket machine towards him. Turning the handle, he churned out a dozen or so tickets and the recruiter quickly handed them out to the assembled throng. Chris turned the ticket over in his hands with a puzzled frown – it was completely blank.
"The time, date and location of your trial will appear on it in due course," the recruiter explained. "It usually happens about an hour before the assessment is due to take place so keep an eye on it. Go to your allocated location, hand the ticket in and then we shall see whether you are worthy to be part of this exciting, new chapter in darklighter history."
"How long do we have to wait?" one of the other potentials asked.
"Usually about a month, sometimes longer," the recruiter replied in a self-important tone. "The trials take time to organise, especially as interest is running so high at the moment. We have darklighters from all parts of the world wanting to join up."
Chris nodded along with the others. It was a clever ploy – making them wait. He imagined the empty ticket burnt a hole in each darklighter's pocket, increasing their enthusiasm for enlisting ten-fold, especially when fuelled by cunningly placed rumours and hearsay in every demon bar in the country. Their enemy certainly knew how to lay the perfect trap that was for sure.
Unfortunately, that also made him a formidable opponent - they were going to have to be very careful that they didn't get caught in his spider-web a second time. Still, forewarned was forearmed, and Chris had faith his family had the ability and, more importantly, the determination to succeed in their goal and save his brother from a fate worse than death, despite the obstacles in their way.
One by one, the group of darklighters began to orb away, each clutching their tickets in their grubby hands. Chris glanced at his watch. It was late afternoon now, hours since he'd left home that morning. He'd forgotten that he'd promised to check in every few hours. It had taken him ages to track down a suitable darklighter to ambush and he'd gone to the Demon Bar immediately afterwards, frustrated at the overlong delay. He figured it was time he orbed back home before his Mom sent out a search party.
"Oh thank god!" Piper exclaimed in relief when he appeared out of nowhere in the kitchen.
She rushed forward and threw her arms around him, her tight embrace restricting his oxygen supply. Once she'd reassured herself that he was okay, she stepped back and wrinkled her nose, suddenly noticing the rank smell emanating from him.
"You stink!" she informed him.
"Tell me about it," Chris agreed whole-heartedly with an exaggerated grimace. "I've been resisting the urge to hurl for hours."
Paige laughed. "I see you're as fastidious as your Mom," she commented wryly from where she was sitting next to Phoebe, with little Wyatt in her lap.
"And I should think so too," Piper cut in. "I hope I don't raise my sons to be slobs."
Chris grinned, thinking on his older brother, who was always clean and well turned-out despite his evil nature. Their mother's influence still remained even now; Wyatt would never completely escape from his upbringing, it was too deeply ingrained within him.
"I'll just go and clean up and then I'll fill you in on what I found out," he told them, turning towards the door. "Where's Dad?"
"Up there," Piper said, jerking her thumb towards the ceiling. "I'll call him."
Chris nodded and left the room, bounding up the stairs two at a time, anxious to rid himself of his disguise. Absently performing the counter-spell to turn his orbs back to their familiar turquoise, he shed his clothing and stepped into the shower. Tipping his head back, he allowed the warm water to sluice over his face, closing his eyes as it washed away the lingering odour of darklighter from his body.
Fifteen minutes later, he was back downstairs, dressed in casual black pants and a maroon t-shirt, his feet encased in a pair of grey and black pumps. As he settled himself in one of the armchairs in the lounge, his Mom handed him a plate of sandwiches and he enthusiastically tucked in, suddenly ravenously hungry.
Piper smiled as she watched her youngest son devour his food, it gave her a warm feeling to take care of him in this way. He was so much more relaxed now that they all knew who he was. The uptight whitelighter was gone and in his place was a young man who she could easily recognise as one of their own. Everything about him screamed 'Halliwell' in a way that it hadn't done before, and his father's influence was pretty self-evident in him as well.
She caught Leo's eye and smiled – he had also been watching their son, obviously thinking much the same thing as her. He smiled back at her and winked as if to say 'that's our boy' and she moved to sit down beside him on the couch. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he bent to kiss the top of her head and she snuggled in closer, resting her cheek against his chest and her right hand on top of his thigh as they quietly waited for their son to finish his meal.
"You want anything else?" Piper asked when Chris finally set his plate aside.
Her son shook his head. "No, I'm okay for now – dinner's in a few hours, right?"
Piper laughed. "Yeah, dinner's in a few hours," she replied. "Don't you think of anything other than food?"
"Yeah of course I do – saving Wyatt and…," Chris faltered as an image of Bianca rose into his mind.
Seeing the expression of grief that suddenly crossed her son's face, Piper quickly guessed what he was thinking about. "Wyatt killed her, didn't he?" she asked. "When she took you back to the future, I mean."
Chris nodded. "I don't think he really meant to but yeah, he did."
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, me too," Chris replied thickly, looking down at his hands.
"She was a demon," Phoebe said.
Chris shook his head. "No, she was a Phoenix witch – there's a difference. Yes, she did some evil things in her time, but she wasn't inherently bad. Phoenix witches are paid assassins; they do it for money not pleasure. She stopped all that after we got together anyway."
"I don't understand why you would be interested in her in the first place though," Phoebe said. "You seem so… well good, I guess."
"I'm no saint," Chris told his Aunt. "I've had to do some questionable things to get where I am today – circumstances forced me into them but I did them all the same. Bianca wanted to reform; I wanted to help her… and the fact that she was pretty hot didn't go unnoticed either," he added with a self-depreciating grin.
"You were very young to be engaged," Piper quietly observed.
Chris acknowledged that with an incline of his head. "Maybe, but if you lived in the future, you'd understand that you have to grab every chance of happiness you can get - whenever it is offered to you. You can't guarantee that there's going to be a tomorrow."
Piper sighed. "And my little boy's responsible for that," she said sadly.
"Not if we can stop the demon from getting to him before it's too late. Maybe then we'll all get a second chance at life – Wyatt included."
Piper nodded. "Okay – tell us what you found out."
Chris quickly filled them in on his day. "It's useful information, I guess," he said when he'd finished his story. "But I don't know whether it's going to help us find the demon who's after Wyatt. Even if I go undercover, it could take years to rise through the ranks to the point where I get access to him."
"It's still worth going along to the recruitment session though," Leo began to say, but his wife interrupted before he could continue.
"No – we don't know what they mean by a 'trial' – what if he gets hurt?"
"Didn't we have this conversation this morning?" Chris asked in a weary tone.
Piper shook her head. "That was about giving you the freedom to be the adult that you are," she told him. "This is about taking an unnecessary risk – something we promised your other father we wouldn't let you do – not even for Wyatt."
She looked over at Leo for support and the Elder nodded. "Your mother's right, Chris. It's too dangerous."
"But you just said it was worth checking out," Chris protested.
"And it is – by me. With my invisibility shield on, no one will know I'm there. If our enemy is lingering somewhere unseen in the background, I'll be able to get a good look at him."
Chris nodded. "Okay, I'll go with you," he decided.
"How? You're not an Elder, you don't have an invisibility shield," Paige pointed out.
"No, but there are other ways to make yourself invisible."
"This is another one of those spells that you and your brother cooked up between you, isn't it?" Piper said in a resigned tone.
"Err… well, yeah," Chris admitted sheepishly.
"And how many of them back-fired?" she asked.
Chris laughed. "Quite a few – mine usually. Wyatt wasn't so disaster prone, being all Twice Blessed and everything. Don't worry, this is one of his."
"And that's such a comfort – not," Piper retorted.
Chris looked suddenly worried as a horrible thought stuck him. "Look Mom, don't try and stop us experimenting in the future, okay? Yes, we created a few messes that you and the Aunts had to clear up, but a lot of what we learned proved extremely useful later on in life. I imagine that'll still be the case, even if we do manage to change the future for the better."
Piper looked over at Leo. "Please tell me he didn't just ask us to ignore our responsibilities as parents."
The Elder smiled. "Even forewarned, I don't imagine we'll have any more success stopping them experimenting than we did in the other future," he told her. "We set the boundaries and gave them the room to grow within them – just like responsible parents of two magically gifted children should. And we'll do that again this time round."
"We didn't do a very good job with Wyatt though, did we?"
"That was caused by something else, Piper. He didn't turn evil because we allowed him to spread his magical wings. You only have to look at Chris to see that our philosophy was sound in that respect."
Piper glanced over at her youngest son and smiled warmly. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she said softly. "He did turn out rather well, didn't he?"
"Stop it, you're making me blush," Chris protested teasingly, although inside he was glowing with pleasure. "Can we get back to the point please?"
"Okay, so you and Leo will go investigate the darklighter army again when the time comes," Phoebe succinctly summarised, "But then what?
There was silence as they all raked their brains, trying to think of a way forward.
"How are we supposed to defeat this guy if he's so well concealed that we can't find out anything about him?" Paige finally demanded in frustration.
"You know, there is someone who might be able to tell us more," Chris mused thoughtfully, a sudden idea popping into his head.
"Who?"
"Wyatt," he replied cryptically
They all looked at him, dumbfounded.
"Are you suggesting we summon him here from the future?" Piper eventually asked, looking at her son in apprehension. Accepting the truth about her eldest boy was one thing, actually coming face to face with his grown-up, evil self was quite another.
"No!" Chris shook his head and shuddered at thought of his brother wreaking his particular brand of havoc here in the past. "That could go seriously wrong. Besides, he wouldn't tell us anything anyway. He and this demon guy might have gone their separate ways, but he's still the reason that Wyatt is where he is today. He's not going to betray his identity to anyone."
"So what are you suggesting then?" Phoebe asked her nephew.
"Maybe we could open some sort of window to the future, to when all this started, just after Mom…," Chris stopped, gathered his emotions and continued. "I don't think it's a good idea for any of us to physically travel through time right now, but we could watch Wyatt through it, kind of as if he were on a television show."
"Is that even possible?" Paige asked sceptically.
Chris shrugged. "The Elders do it," he told them.
The three sisters immediately turned to look at Leo, who nodded. "That's true," he agreed. "But they only take brief glimpses and even then the picture's blurry and incomplete."
"That's where their predictions of 'a great evil stirring' or a 'gathering storm' come from, isn't it?" Piper asked astutely.
Leo nodded in confirmation.
"Why don't they take a better look?" Paige asked curiously. "Get more accurate information."
"Because it's forbidden," her brother-in-law replied solemnly. "Imagine knowing every single detail of the future. There'd be no mystery, no voyage of discovery in life – in essence, there wouldn't be a reason to exist, all human life would become utterly pointless. The Elders look ahead every once in a while to make sure destiny stays on the right path, but they don't interfere any more than that."
He broke off and turned to his son. "I can see where you're coming from, Chris, but this might be going a bit too far."
"Look, I know this is a huge deal but so is what Wyatt did to the future. We're talking a one time thing here – to look at one specific event, nothing more."
"But still…"
"Don't you all see?" Chris burst out passionately. "This changes everything! We're going to have to break some rules to stop it from happening again. You have to see that."
They all looked at each other and then Leo slowly nodded his head. "All right," he said, somewhat reluctantly, "But I can tell you now, the Elders won't help you with this and it's not an easy thing to do. Briefly creating a portal to travel through time is a whole different ball game to opening a window to the future and looking into it. That's why the Elders can only take brief glimpses, they can't hold the fold in time open long enough to see anything more than that."
"Well that rules the whole idea out then, doesn't it?" Paige said in disappointment.
"Why?" her nephew demanded impatiently.
"If the Elders only have enough power to get a hazy impression of the future, what hope do we have? The Power of Three is never going to be enough."
"The Power of the entire Halliwell line might be though."
Leo stared at his son, clearly impressed with his thinking.
"Not as dumb as I look, huh?" Chris quipped, catching his father's look of admiration.
"What does he mean?" Phoebe asked.
"You've done it in the past," Leo reminded her, "Maybe not on such a huge scale, but you've called on the power of your ancestors before. You'll need something to focus it on this time though. The power will have to be concentrated and controlled for this to work."
"You mean like a magical talisman of some sort? A crystal perhaps?" Paige asked.
"Yes and no," Leo answered. "A simple crystal will be far too weak to hold it. You'll need a large diamond, a ruby, something like that to contain that kind of power – or an object that has some sort of special magical significance."
"Great, so what do you suggest we do? Rob a jeweller?"
"How about this?" Chris asked as he orbed back into the attic.
They all jumped, nobody had realised that he'd left. Draped over the back of his hand was a silver necklace, the pendant of which was distinctly familiar triquetra.
"What is that? Where did you get it?" Phoebe demanded, taking the piece of jewellery from him and examining it curiously.
"It belonged to Melinda Warren," Chris explained. "Only it was lost, generations back. You guys uncover it when I'm a baby. Mom left it to me in her will – with yours and Paige's blessing apparently. I never did understand why you chose to give it to me, rather than Wyatt or one of the… err, umm, my cousins."
"Why did you bring it to the past with you?" Paige asked. "Isn't it dangerous for an object like this to travel back in time?"
"I didn't bring it back, I gave it to one of my cousins for safe-keeping," Chris told her. "It followed me here though – I guess it knew it would be needed at some point. I found it in my stuff when I arrived."
He frowned. "Maybe it's not actually the pendant from my time, maybe it's the one from this. Maybe my presence here called it to me because I own it in the future."
"You talk about it like it has consciousness," Piper said.
"It does – kind of. It's like Excalibur in a way, only not so powerful or so dangerous."
"So what does it do?" Phoebe asked.
"Nothing specific. It just magnifies my power a little bit. It did the same for the Power of Three when you used it."
"Well, it certainly seems like the perfect object to use for this," Paige decided. "Question is – how do we go about it?"
They all automatically looked over at Leo for assistance, even though the answer was pretty obvious.
"Two Power of Three spells, I guess," he replied, "One to call on the power and concentrate it into the pendant, and the other to open the window in time."
Piper took the necklace from her sister and held it up in front of her face, watching as it slowly rotated on its axis.
"Why do I get the impression that that's going to be a whole lot more complex than it sounds?" she asked.
To be continued…