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: Hello! I know I said in my review replies this morning that I'd be posting in the next couple of days, but I finished this off a bit quicker than I envisaged :-)
Sorry for the delay in posting. As I explained to the reviewers, we're heading towards the big finale of this story now so it's taking me a lot longer to put together something I'm happy with. Anyway, with no further ado, let's get on with the story…
Chapter 27
"Dad? Where are you? Dad?"
Leo looked up as the bedroom door burst open and his youngest son virtually fell over the threshold, excitedly brandishing a piece of paper in his hand.
"There you are," Chris said, panting slightly as if he'd just run a hundred-metre sprint. "It's time. I thought it was never going to happen - that maybe the magic on the ticket wasn't working properly or something. I mean they said a month, but it's been over four now."
"What has?" Leo asked, not having a clue what his son was talking about.
"The trial for the darklighter army," Chris said as if it were obvious. "It's this afternoon - look."
He thrust the ticket towards his father, who took it and studied the spidery writing upon it. Sure enough, whereas before it had been blank, now it contained today's date, an address and a time: 15.30.
"I'm not sure it's necessary for us to go now," Leo began.
"I have to," Chris cut in. "If I don't, I'll blow my cover with Nazcheck. He'll want to know why I didn't show up."
"Hey hang on," Leo said with a worried frown. "I thought we agreed that this would just be a reconnaissance mission. You're not going to go through with the actual trial…"
"But Nazcheck…"
"Is a danger to you the moment he enrols in that army, Chris. Alcathan knows who you are remember? Or at least to which family you belong anyway. I think it's time for you to back off."
"Why?" Chris said, rather sulkily. "It's not like the Elders are actually doing anything is it? Other than procrastinating that is."
"We don't want Alcathan to know that we're on to him, the element of surprise is the main advantage we've got. And the Elders haven't been sitting around on their hands, Chris; they've been debating the issue 24/7…"
"For four and a half months, Dad! How long does it take to come up with an action plan?"
Leo sighed. "You're just as impatient as your Mom. This is the biggest threat the magical world has faced for centuries. Planning a counter-attack takes time."
"How much time? 'Cus Wyatt is rapidly running out of it in case you hadn't noticed."
"I don't think it'll be too much longer. Alagon says they're very close to reaching a conclusion on the way forward."
"Alagon? That's the guy who taught Wyatt how to fence, right?"
"He's been earmarked for training your brother how to use Excalibur, yes," Leo concurred with a nod. "He's also been keeping me informed about what's going on as far as he can. We've been friends since I first became a whitelighter, so he has no qualms about bending a few rules to keep me in the loop."
"I still don't get why you couldn't be involved," Chris said.
"Apparently, they felt that I couldn't remain objective," Leo replied with a touch of resentment, "Wyatt being my son and all."
"But it's our family that suffers the most through all of this," Chris objected.
"You don't need to tell me that, son," his father replied, "I suppose in some ways they do have a point though. Objectivity does tend to go out the window where love is concerned."
"Where's Mom?" Chris asked then, only just noticing the lack of her presence, which was surprising this early in the morning.
As if on cue, the toilet flushed in the on-suite bathroom and Piper emerged, pale and sickly looking. "I thought morning sickness was supposed to subside after the first trimester," she complained to her husband, not registering that her son was in the room. "I'm sure it did with Wyatt."
"Every pregnancy is different, Piper," Leo told her reasonably. "You didn't show this early with Wyatt either," he added, indicating her protruding stomach, which was noticeably rounded even though she was only four and a half months pregnant.
At his father's words, Chris's eyes were immediately drawn to his mother's rapidly expanding belly. He tried not to think about it too much to be honest. It was more than a little weird to think that it was essentially him growing in there.
Taking Future Leo's advice, Piper had kept the news of her second pregnancy secret from everyone except family - not even Darryl and Sheila knew that she was going to have another baby. There had been no demon attacks specifically aimed at her and her developing offspring however, which Leo reliably informed them had not been the case in the other future.
All this secrecy severely limited Piper's freedom though, especially now that she was beginning to show. She had had to cut down her hours at P3 to avoid being seen too often, and was growing increasingly crotchety as a result of being cooped up in the house all day. Her family were having to walk on eggshells around her half of the time, and Chris, in particular, was plagued by a growing sense of guilt, knowing that he was the one responsible for her enforced confinement.
It was then that Piper became aware of his presence and she smiled warmly at him, her grumpy expression brightening in an instant. "Hey sweetie!"
"Hey!" Chris returned, a little uncomfortably. "Umm, Look Mom - I just wanted to say… well, I'm sorry about, umm… well, you know… everything."
"Oh honey," Piper said, reaching out and squeezing his arm affectionately. "Don't listen to me, okay? I'm just venting. I would spend nine months in bed with my feet up if it meant keeping you safe from harm."
"And drive us all to drink in the process of course," Leo cut in dryly, attempting to lighten the mood.
It worked because Chris laughed, the painful band around his heart loosening somewhat at his Mom's reassuring words. He grinned as Piper reached out and playfully smacked her husband up side the head.
"I still think we should check it out," he said to his father when their laughter died down.
"Check out what?" Piper asked, looking between the two men with interest.
"We'll discuss it later," Leo firmly told his son.
Piper frowned. "I don't need protecting you know," she said irritably. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid."
"Err, guys?" Paige poked her head round the door. "I think that maybe you should come downstairs. Like, umm… now would be good."
"Why?" Piper asked, sensing there was something her sister wasn't saying.
"We have some visitors," Paige told her in a significant tone.
Chris and Leo exchanged a quick look and then followed the two women out of the room and down the stairs into the lounge. There they discovered Phoebe sitting on the sofa with a squirming Wyatt in her lap. Their trio of visitors stood opposite her, each wearing the telltale velvet robes of an Elder, and all waiting patiently for the rest of their audience to arrive.
"Leo, my friend," the Eldest of the three greeted his colleague in a calm, serene tone.
"Zola," Leo acknowledged him with an incline of his head. "You've made a decision?" he asked, as he took his baby son from Phoebe and perched the little boy on his hip.
"We have," the Elder concurred.
Leo flickered a glance at Alagon and was rather disturbed to see the grave look on his friend's face. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"It is perhaps not ideal, but we feel it is necessary under the circumstances," Zola replied.
"What's necessary?" Paige interrupted impatiently. "Stop talking in riddles and cut to the chase, will you? You've kept us waiting long enough."
"Paige…" Leo said warningly.
"Well they have!"
A brief smile crossed Zola's features. "Ever the impatient," he commented to his female colleague.
"It is the nature of humans, Zola," Sandra, the third Elder explained.
"So I've observed," Zola replied solemnly.
"Err hello? Impatient humans still waiting!" Paige said, waving her right hand in front of the Elder's face to commandeer his attention.
Leo groaned inwardly, quite certain that his sister-in-law had no idea to whom she was speaking in such a peremptory manner. Then again, the fact that Zola was a member of the Elder's Higher Council probably wouldn't carry much weight with her even if she did know. Zola however, accepted Paige's impertinence with equanimity, nodding at her before turning the conversation back to the important subject at hand.
"Since the time that the Source forced Alcathan into hiding, there have been rumours abound about a prophecy concerning him," he began. "However, with him seemingly out of action or possibly even dead, our predecessors didn't do much more than record its potential existence. With his re-emergence, it seemed imperative to us to locate and decipher it."
His eyes widening, Leo shot a questioning look at Alagon; his friend hadn't mentioned anything like this. "That's why it's taken so long," he stated the obvious.
"Yes," Alagon confirmed with a nod.
"So what does this prophecy say?"
"Basically that Wyatt is the only one with enough power to vanquish him," Alagon replied. "We think that's why Alcathan targeted him in the first place. By bringing him over to the dark side, he thought to gain himself an ally rather than an enemy. It may not have worked out exactly like that, but we believe that was his original intention. Unfortunately for Alcathan, he'd failed to take your son's independent streak into account."
"But Wyatt can't kill him, he's only a baby!" Piper protested, reaching out protectively for her son. Leo handed him over, quickly sensing his wife's need to have their first-born in her arms.
"We know that, Piper, but he won't be a child forever…" Alagon told her.
"Which is why he must receive the highest protection until he comes of age and can fulfil his destiny," Zola went on gravely.
A slither of fear ran through Piper at the look of sorrowful sympathy Zola gave her as he said this. "I don't understand. W-what do you mean?" she asked.
"We can protect Wyatt from Alcathan's influence, but not down here. Only with us in the Higher Realms will he be completely safe from harm…"
Shaking her head in denial, Piper instinctively clutched her baby close to her, prompting Wyatt to gripe in protest.
"He will have his father and his brother by his side, and you will be permitted to visit…"
"Stop!"
Piper had finally found her voice and was staring at her husband's boss in open-mouthed incredulity. "Are you suggesting that I hand my son over to you? To live 'up there'?" she demanded. "And what the hell do you mean 'I'll be permitted to visit' – I'm his mother! I don't need your permission to do anything where my son is concerned."
"You misunderstand us, Piper. I simply meant that you do not have any whitelighter blood in your veins and therefore cannot exist permanently in our realms without it affecting your health. Your sons however, are a different matter."
"My… my sons? You're including Chris in this as well?"
"This time's version, yes. If Alcathan is thwarted in his ambition to turn Wyatt, we expect him to go after your other son instead – to use as leverage when the time comes for him and Wyatt to confront each other. Christopher must therefore be protected as well."
"You're out of your minds if you think I'm going to agree to this," Piper said hotly. "I'm not giving up my boys!"
"You want them to be safe, don't you?" Sandra cut in. "Protected from all harm?"
"Of course I do! But I don't want them growing up like caged animals either. They're my children, not pawns in a good versus evil chess game! There's another way – there has to be another way! Leo – tell them there's another way."
Piper turned and appealed to her husband, who avoided looking her directly in the eye. "Piper…"
"NO! How can you…? You cannot ask me to do this!"
Leo sighed and addressed his three colleagues. "Do you think you could leave us for a while please?" he asked diffidently. "This is a family matter."
"Of course," Zola replied with an incline of his head. "This is not a decision that has to be made immediately, Leo. Wyatt can remain down here for a little while longer. From what you've gleaned from your Future self's memories, it is a few months yet before Alcathan makes his move."
Leo nodded but didn't otherwise reply.
"Wait!" Chris said, the first of the rest of the family to recover from their shocked disbelief. "This prophecy – can we see it?"
"I see no harm in that," Zola agreed, nodding at Alagon, who immediately drew a piece of parchment from his robes and handed it over to the young witch-whitelighter. Chris took it, while Zola turned his attention back to Piper.
"We do not wish things to be this way, you know," he told her. "But it seems to be the only course of action under the circumstances."
The three Elders then orbed out, leaving the Halliwells alone to discuss the matter.
"Don't you touch me!" Piper stormed, flinching back when Leo reached out towards her. "I won't agree to this, I won't! And I can't believe you think it's okay for your children to be separated from their mother in this way. You're supposed to be their father, not the Elders beck and call boy!"
"Piper – I don't think it's okay, I just can't see any other option. We have to stop Alcathan from getting to Wyatt and this may be the only way to do that."
Her upset exacerbated by pregnancy hormones, Piper let out a dry, painful sob, and then turned and fled from the room, Wyatt held tightly against her chest. Leo dropped his face into his hands and drew in a deep, shuddering breath.
"You can't seriously be asking her to do this," Phoebe said to her brother-in-law in stunned disbelief.
"You don't understand," he mumbled into his hands.
"Too right we don't!" Paige put in her two cents worth. "How can you even consider this as an option, Leo?"
"Because I've seen the future, Paige!" Leo burst out, glaring defiantly at her. "And I don't want that for my boys."
"But it's okay for them to live without their Mom in their lives," his sister-in-law retorted.
"Of course it isn't, but it's not like she's never going to see them and hopefully this will only be a temporary measure. I won't stop looking for another way to resolve this, not now, not ever, I swear."
Paige turned to Chris. "What do you think?" she demanded. "This directly affects you after all."
Looking rather like a goldfish, Chris opened and closed his mouth a few times before eventually responding. "I think I'll go and find Mom," he said, refusing to give an opinion one way or the other.
He found his mother in his parent's bedroom, curled up on the bed and sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow. She'd obviously put Wyatt in his crib so that the little boy wouldn't have to witness her distress.
"Mom?" he asked, hesitantly touching her shaking shoulder as he sat down on the edge of the mattress next to her.
Piper lifted her tear-stained face. "There's another way," she insisted.
"I hope so," Chris said, shooting her a watery smile. "Because it's dull as dishwater up there."
Piper smiled at his acid-tongued remark, despite her woes. "You think he's right… your father, I mean," she guessed shrewdly.
Chris sighed. "If it means I get my brother back and that you don't die…" he stopped and shrugged, "I guess I'd do it."
"You've already sacrificed so much, Chris."
"He's my brother," her son replied with breathtaking honesty.
Piper nodded solemnly, infected by his simple, black and white view of the situation. "And you're my sons. So if I have to leave you to protect you…"
"You won't be leaving us, not really. I know it won't be the same, but you'll still be a major part of our lives, and it might not be for very long anyway. Dad says he won't stop searching for a better alternative and I know he won't. And neither will you, or Paige, or Phoebe. I have faith that you'll find a way eventually. Right now, what matters most is that Alcathan doesn't get to Wyatt though. Whatever he does makes his soul vulnerable to corruption later on. We can't let that happen, Mom. We just can't."
Piper considered this and then reluctantly nodded. "Leo?" she called out, her voice shaking slightly.
Her husband arrived in a flurry of blue lights an instant later. "Look honey…," he began, but Piper cut him off.
"I'll never forgive you if you give up fighting to get our family back together," she said stridently.
"I never will," Leo vowed. "You can count on that. I don't like this any more than you do, Piper. Please believe me when I say that."
His wife nodded and then finally allowed him to take her into his arms. Burying her face in his shoulder, she clung to him as if her life depended on it and began to sob bitterly again. Chris quietly left the room, knowing his presence would stop his parents from discussing things freely. A short while later, Piper recovered her composure and looked up at her husband, her brown eyes shiny with tears and her lower lip trembling with barely suppressed emotion.
"I know I have to, but how can I do this?" she said, as the salty drops escaped to run down her cheeks. "How can I let my baby go? And Chris! What about him? He won't know me. The first few weeks are the most important for the mother/child bonding process and I'll have to abandon him as soon as he's born!" she finished with a wail.
"Piper, come on." Leo chided gently. "The Elders won't expect you to just hand him over and come back down here. You'll be able to spend that important time by Chris's side, I promise you. And you can visit both boys as often as you want after that. Being in the Higher Realms will only affect your health if you remain up there indefinitely. It's something to do with lack of gravity, I think. Elders and Whitelighters are built to withstand it; humans are not. You just need to get the balance right so that you don't get sick is all. I know it means you can't be with them as much as you are now, but it's not as if you're never going to see them."
"It's not the same though," Piper sniffled, noisily blowing her nose on the tissue that he'd handed to her. "They'll miss out on so much."
"I know," Leo said softly, smoothing his hand over her hair and kissing the top of her head, "Which is why it's our duty to make sure that this situation is only temporary. We will find a way; I know we will. We just have to have faith and it'll happen. For now though, protecting them from Alcathan is more important."
Piper sighed. "Why is it always us?" she complained.
"That's what you get for breaking the rules, I guess," Leo said lightly.
"Except that's a load of crap, isn't it?" Piper said. "If there are all these prophecies about Wyatt, we were always meant to be together, weren't we? Where else was he going to come from? Stork Mail?"
Leo smiled. "I suppose if you have to fight tooth and nail for something, you don't take it for granted," he observed sagely.
"So all these trials and tribulations only make our family stronger, is that it?"
Leo nodded. "I think it does, yes. Not that I wouldn't prefer things to be a little less drama-filled of course," he added ruefully.
"I can't believe we're being so accepting of this," Piper said wearily.
Leo studied her carefully, his blue-green eyes full of quiet regret. "I don't think we are," he said gravely. "I just think that deep down we know that, right now, there's no other way to protect our boys from experiencing the future that Chris has fought so hard to change."
Piper sighed and snuggled closer into him again, but did not speak, too overwhelmed with the mixed emotions she felt over what she was about to do. Handing over her babies to the Elders – was she really capable of doing that? But what if she refused and Alcathan got to Wyatt? Chris's future would happen all over again. How would she ever be able to look him in the face, knowing that she didn't do everything in her power to prevent it?
No – she would have to do this, despite the fact that it was going to rip her heart in two. Wyatt and Chris would be safe, and she and her sisters would carry on looking for another way to wipe Alcathan off the face of the earth. Because whatever the Elders said, she wasn't going to accept the fact that Wyatt was the only one capable of doing that, not when it meant her children may have to grow up never knowing the joys of living amongst their extended family's love...
OOOOOO
The Attic, two hours later…
Chris turned the piece of parchment upside down, as if reading it in this manner could change what it said. All thoughts of the Darklighter Army had been swept away in the wake of the epiphany that had just taken place in his head.
No, he wasn't imagining it; the Elders had definitely read this prophecy wrong. Still, a second opinion couldn't hurt…
"Dad," he called out softly.
A few moments later, Leo materialised next to him, yawning and rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Is Mom okay?" Chris asked.
Leo sighed and sat down beside his son on the creaky old sofa. "She's been better," he replied. "She's asleep now."
Chris nodded. "Maybe there's another alternative," he said slowly, his eyes focused on the sheet of yellowing paper in his hands.
"I'm open to suggestions," his father said.
In answer, his son handed him the prophecy. "Read it," he instructed.
Leo's gaze dropped to the words on the page and he began to read the text:
"For lo, when the Bringer of Chaos rises again, he shall be unstoppable, but for a single Beacon of Hope which resides in the midst of the endless dark. For the offspring of the Charmed Bride and her Groom of Light shall have the power to overcome him. To return him forever to the depths of hell from whence he came, and lead the world back into the light and towards the future that was meant to come to pass."
Leo broke off and found his son gazing expectantly at him. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing," he said.
Chris rolled his eyes. "You're as blinkered as everyone else," he said in exasperation. "Nobody can see past Wyatt's power. Tell me where it says he's the only one who can vanquish Alcathan."
Leo frowned, still puzzled. "'The offspring of the Charmed Bride and her Groom of Light' is a bit of clue," he remarked.
"Exactly," Chris said. "The offspring – not the oldest offspring, the eldest son, the Twice-Blessed Child – simply 'the offspring.' It doesn't mean Wyatt; it means Wyatt and me, both of us."
"Chris…"
"Difference is, I'm no baby – I can fight him now. There's no need to wait."
Leo shook his head. "No, you're not strong enough. Your power - while not insignificant, I grant you - cannot hope to equal Alcathan's."
"Wyatt's can though."
"Which brings us back to where we started."
"No, it doesn't," Chris refuted. "What if the prophecy means it literally? What if Wyatt can't defeat him alone either? What if it has to be both of us?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, my grown-up body and mind, but Wyatt's magic. I could switch powers with him."
Leo's eyes widened at this, but he quickly spotted a flaw in the plan. "Wyatt's powers are still under-developed in this time though, Chris, it might not be enough."
"Except I'm from the other future, so I'll end up with the other Wyatt's powers if we word the spell right."
"But that kind of spell has to be performed willingly…"
"It will be – baby Wyatt will give me permission."
Leo looked at his son, mildly impressed with his convoluted thinking. "You really have thought all this through," he remarked.
"I didn't come all this way to give up now. And as much as I can see the logic in what the Elders are saying, I really don't want my other self to spend his childhood 'up there' in the clouds. If that was the only way then so be it, but I don't think it is."
Leo nodded. "Wyatt's power will be a lot for you to handle, Chris," he said, his tone of voice indicating that still held some reservations about the idea.
"I know, but Mom and the Aunts have switched powers before…"
"…except their powers are pretty much equal in strength," Leo interrupted. "You'll be taking on a power that is way beyond your own. And you'll have to learn how to control it too."
Chris nodded. "I know this is not going to be a walk in the park, Dad. But me and Wyatt talked you know, before he…he left us. He told me what it was like, how he dealt with stuff. I know having the theory isn't the same as putting it into practise, but at least it's a head start. There's only one thing I'm not sure about."
"What?"
"Well, I'll be switching powers with future Wyatt so it'll make him vulnerable to attack. If someone or something gets to him there before things change, does that mean history will repeat itself in this future?"
Leo thought about it for a moment before answering. "I honestly don't know, son."
"It's more than that anyway. Even if he is safe in the new future, I could effectively get him killed in the old one and I don't think I can do that. He's still my brother and whatever's he's become, I still love him. I know it's stupid, but it's not the same as having him cease to exist when the future changes somehow."
Leo reached out and patted his son comfortingly on the back, understanding where he was coming from. He wasn't sure he wanted to condemn Wyatt to that kind of death either, however evil he was. Future Wyatt would never know the difference if the future simply ceased to exist, but if he were attacked, he could feel horrible pain and that was something that didn't sit right with his father - or his brother by all accounts.
"Maybe there's a way around that," he decided after a brief silence.
"How?" Chris lifted his bent head and looked up into his father's face.
Leo sighed, not really wanting to bring up the painful subject. "Maybe it's possible to put some protection in place for Future Wyatt," he said, "But we can't do it without help."
"I don't understand," Chris said with a frown.
"Your other father – he left me instructions on how to summon him back if we ever needed his advice or help with anything."
Chris's expression immediately became shuttered, his green eyes clouding over with powerful emotion.
"I know it'll be difficult for you to see him again," Leo continued gently, "But if you truly want to protect Future Wyatt, then this might be the only way."
Chris drew in a shaky breath, and then squared his shoulders and nodded. "Okay then, let's summon him," he said, his heart heavy but his resolve stubbornly set.
"We should bring your Mom and Aunts up to speed before we do that," Leo went on.
"Mom's gonna throw a fit," Chris predicted.
"Quite possibly," his father concurred. "She finds it difficult to separate you from the baby growing inside of her, so it's instinct to mother and protect you as such. She's not mastered the art of letting one's children spread their wings and become the adults they were destined to be yet. "
"And you have?"
Leo shook his head with a tight smile. "Not really, but I've seen what the future holds and I know your strength. If anyone can do this, it's you. You're cut from the same mould as a certain quartet of female relatives after all. I won't let you walk into this without any back up, but I can't stand in your way. If you struggle to control Wyatt's power then we'll have to rethink, but I'd be a fool to dismiss the idea out of hand just because of a fatherly need to wrap you in cotton wool and protect you from all harm."
"After such a vote of confidence, it wouldn't be very prudent to admit I'm scared out of my wits, would it?" Chris said with a touch of rueful embarrassment.
"I'd be worried if you weren't. Arrogance above fear is a weakness, Chris, not a strength. You need to be aware of the realities of what you're facing if you're going to succeed."
"Oh, I think the realities are more than apparent," Chris said glibly, while his insides churned with growing nerves.
Could he really do this? He didn't know, but he had to try - for his family, himself, for everyone really…
To be continued…
Re: the Elders. Alagon, I made up, but I looked at some transcripts and Zola's the Elder Leo inadvertently killed in Season 7, and Sandra is apparently the female Elder that kept showing up around that time.