Merry Christmas! (Or Happy Holidays if Christmas is not your festival)
So as a present I have updated not one, but two of my stories this night, and I hope you enjoy it and have a good day (and days after!) :)
After dinner, Piper and Leo went upstairs to put baby Wyatt to bed, leaving Chris and Wyatt to clear away the dishes, which was done with a simple wave of Wyatt's arm the moment his mother was out of sight.
"I can't do this." Announced Chris quietly after a pause. Wyatt turned to survey him.
"You've managed it so far." He pointed out coolly, "And might I remind you that it's your fault that they know your true identity so you can defiantly deal with the consequences."
"I didn't tell them Wyatt." Insisted Chris, "It must have been Aunt Paige, I told you I lost track of her and I think she may have had some contact with the Mum and our other Aunts." He told him, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "I know you don't want to cause suspicion by leaving suddenly, but I don't know how long I can go on playing happy families. You realise it's been five years since we had dinner with mum, and I can't remember when we last ate with Dad. Perhaps I could go and look for Paige again or something." He offered, acting as if he had no clue of his Aunt's fate.
Wyatt could clearly see how distressed his brother was at this sudden readmission into family life, and as he did believe Chris, he took pity on him.
"Very well." He conceded in the manor of a king pardoning his subject, "But you need not concern yourself with Paige, I dealt with that issue. Instead, I need you to persuade an old friend of ours to help me." He ordered, pulling a small nearly golden coin from his pocket and throwing it to Chris who recognised it instantly. "You don't need to know what I need him for, just use those powers of persuasion you are so renowned for to get him to help ok." Chris nodded quickly, slipping the coin into his back pocket. "Good, he'll be in the Park tonight, you know what to do." Chris nodded again, and although he knew Wyatt had in his own way dismissed him, he paused, needing to make his act convincing.
"What do you mean you've 'dealt' with the Paige issue?" He asked, letting his voice quaver slightly with nerves. "She's alright isn't she?" He pressed when Wyatt still didn't give an answer. "She's still family Wyatt, you can't hurt her!" He insisted as his brother remained silent.
"Just get him to help, and we'll talk if you succeed." He ordered his voice final and defiantly not welcoming objection. Chris sighed audibly, but orbed away without further comment, grinning slightly to himself as he realised Wyatt had just ordered him to bring one of the highest ranking resistance members into his inner circle once more.
Xx
Back in the cave, and Paige was still unconscious. Prue and Phoebe had put a sleeping charm on her, so she would only come around when Chris had arrived back in the cave. Despite all the assurances Chris had given them, they were still highly mistrustful of the witch-White lighter, and they had no desire to be caught off guard by her powers again.
Cole had been called away by the brotherhood, and although he wanted to stay and protect Phoebe, it would be far more dangerous for his love if he were to arouse the other demons suspicions, so he had left Prue and Phoebe to guard Paige, promising he would return as soon as possible.
"This is impossible." Declared Phoebe, clearly frustrated, the pair of them had been sat in silence for a long while, each trying to make clear in their minds exactly the position they were in. "Clearly both Wyatt and Chris have been keeping secrets from us, and I just don't see how we're supposed to work out who we're actually meant to help. Something's going on in the future, and if we choose the wrong side, it's going to affect more than just our nephews." She pointed out.
It wasn't that Phoebe didn't believe Chris, because she did. It was simply the fact that Chris was working with or for Paige, and try as Phoebe did to believe she would one day be as close to Paige as she was to Prue and Piper, Phoebe simply didn't trust the woman, and because of that she had begun to question Chris again.
Prue nodded, having been considering a similar line of thinking herself. "We need to talk to Piper." She decided eventually. She knew it was cruel to force her younger sister to choose between her own sons, but at the end of the day the sisters were stronger when they all worked together, and so whatever decision Prue and Phoebe reached would mean nothing if Piper chose to believe the other brother.
"What the hell?" Came a voice from behind them. The girls had been so preoccupied in their concerns; neither of them had heard the jingle of orbs as Chris arrived into the cave. Chris knelt down besides the unconscious Paige, first attempting to wake her up, but when she didn't stir, he went about fumbling with the chains binding her.
"Leave it." Ordered Prue coolly, avoiding eye contact with the confused boy.
"What?" Exclaimed Chris, standing up and rounding on his other two Aunts. "No! She's not dangerous."
"She attacked us." Defended Phoebe reaching out a hand to Chris' shoulder. He simply glared at them, shrugging her hand away. "Look, Chris what were we supposed to do?" She persisted. "She orbed rocks at us, she knocked out Cole! We almost didn't escape." Chris frowned, wondering what tortures Wyatt must have used on her to make him act like that.
"It wasn't her fault." He informed them, his voice dangerously civil, "Wyatt..."
"Wyatt wasn't there." Pointed out Prue, taking a step forwards to support her sister. "He was with Piper and Leo, the only people there were us and her."
"The only people you could see." He corrected. "Wyatt is perfectly capable of summoning up any sort of demon, no matter how dead you may think they are. He probably hired a possessor demon, or some sort of trickster. Believe me, if she had have been in her right mind, she would never have done that."
"Barbas." Gasped Paige weakly, slowly emerging from her magically induced stupor. Everyone turned to look at her.
"Paige?" Whispered Chris, kneeling down next to her and gently trying to coax her back to reality. Paige murmured the demon's name once more, and this time Chris understood, turning back to the sisters in triumph. "See, she just thought you were Barbas, she had no idea she was facing her real sisters."
"Barbas is dead." Refuted Phoebe. "We vanquished him two years ago, and he can only come into this dimension every thirteen hundred years. She's clearly lying!"
"I told you, Wyatt is powerful. He can call up demons from the flames of hell and bend them to his will. Barbas is around in our time, and I believe Paige if she says he is also here." Chris told her firmly, returning his attention to removing the chains. Phoebe looked like she was going to argue again, but Prue cut it.
"They're right." She informed her sister nervously, "When we were in there, there was a time I could feel something. I was terrified of Paige. You saw me, I tried to kill her. I was so scared of her I was going to plunge an athame into her chest. I haven't felt anything like that since we last faced him." She remembered. She moved over to her bag, and pulled out one of the potions they had taken to the cave. It was meant to recreate Piper's blasting powers, and when she carefully through the potion down on the chains, it released the older witch.
"Chris?" Murmured Paige, as she once more attempted to return to consciousness "How are you... what's going on?" She asked, still dazed and confused over the events of that evening.
"It was your sisters." Chris informed her in a soothing tone, helping her to sit up as she surveyed her surroundings, her eyes moving over Prue to where Phoebe stood slightly further back, clearly suspicious and slightly nervous. "They saved you. They want to help." He explained, making Paige smile weekly.
"But what about Wyatt? You know he'll suspect you when he finds me gone." She pointed out weakly as Chris removed the rest of the shackles.
"Don't worry about it." He reassured her, hugging his shaking Aunt who was clearly uncertain. "Look, I have to go for a little while, but you get some rest, and I'll make sure someone stays with you." He said softly, seeing how exhausted the witch was. She smiled, allowing her head to relax against the wall and her eyes to shut once more. Chris turned to face his other aunts. "I have to go and run and errand for Wyatt- but would one of you mind keeping an eye on her. I have no idea what Wyatt did to her, and until Leo can take a look at her, I don't want to leave her alone.
"Wait, where are you going?" Questioned Prue. "Where were you just now any way, I thought we told you to wait here until we got back." Chris checked his watch and saw he didn't have much time. "Look, Mum and Leo made Wyatt admit I was his brother, and then forced us to have dinner. Wyatt has some sort of plan, and he needs me to sort something out for him, ok?" Phoebe and Prue both looked horrified at the idea.
"No, it is not 'ok'" Exclaimed Phoebe as she and Prue simultaneously took a step towards their nephew. "You told us that he is dangerous. That we need to stop him doing whatever he's planning and now you're helping him? What is this task anyway?" Chris sighed, beginning to miss the future where people trusted him to do what was necessary without feeling the need to question every little hypocritical action.
"Look. Wyatt needs another ally, and the one he wants doesn't trust him, but Wyatt thinks he will trust me. If I can get him to help us instead of Wyatt, then we'll be one step closer to stopping him. Now please, just stay here for a couple of hours, and then I swear you can go back home." He promised, clearly exasperated. Phoebe and Prue exchanged uncertain looks.
"Fine." Conceded Prue eventually, "But I'm coming with you." It wasn't a request, but a fact and so Chris didn't even bother to disagree. He knew his family wouldn't want him associating with any one the source viewed an ally, even if the source was a Halliwell, so he wasn't a bit surprised at the request. Only Phoebe seemed to be unhappy with the idea, although Chris suspected that had more to do with being left alone with Paige rather than Chris and Prue's plan.
"Don't worry." He comforted her as he took Prue's offered arm, "She won't attack you again, not now she knows who you really are, and if anything does happen, this cavern is enchanted so as a call to a white-lighter can be heard even from the underworld." He informed her- having made sure he and Paige would be able to communicate even if one was forced to hide. Phoebe nodded, and although she was clearly still clearly apprehensive, she decisively sat down against the wall, staring at the pair of them, clearly expecting orbs.
Xx
Chris and Prue rematerialized 3000 miles away in the middle of central park. It was almost eleven, so there were very few people around, and no one seemed to notice the slight blue tinge appearing from a thick growth of bushes, nor did anyone batter an eye at the arrival of two people who had clearly never been there before. Then again, tonight of all nights, no one in that park would have suspected a thing, for tonight they were expecting magic.
Chris quickly led the way along one of the paths leading into the trees. They joined a small stream of other people, all clearly heading for the same place. Prue noticed many of the people were wearing dark clothes. Some even wore cloaks. Clearly where ever Chris was taking him, they were in for a show.
The crowed took them to a thicket of trees, which encircled a large clearing lit by flaming torches. There was a reasonable large crowed by the time they arrived, and everyone was taking excitedly about what was about to happen. They had left a large space in the middle, clearly the area designated for the performance, but whatever was coming, Prue couldn't understand why Wyatt would be interested. That was until exactly Eleven minutes past eleven, at which point there came a loud bang, a lot of smoke, and then, out of nowhere, appeared a man.
It was dark, and the flames around the circle did little more than cast strange flickering shadows around the clearing, and yet, despite that every feature of the mysterious man was well lit. He was pale, with long black hair and dark clothes. Prue estimated him to be roughly her age, yet the boyish grin he flashed to the applauding crowd gave the impression that he was much younger.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you have joined me here tonight!" He announced, and although he spoke as if he were simply speaking to a few people, his voice easily travelled around the echoing clearing, as the crowed silenced in awe. He spoke in an accent Prue hadn't heard before, although Prue could guess it was from somewhere in Britain. For a second the man's eye's settled on her, he seemed to pause, only momentarily, his face creasing in a small frown, before they continued to roam, and yet that moment made Prue suspect there was something more to this young man. Clearly this was the ally Wyatt desired.
Watching the man's show, it wasn't difficult to see why. The show started of simply; the man simply performed a few card tricks, the sort of thing one might expect from any street performer. But as it went on, however, the tricks grew more complex and impressive. With a swish of his cloak, ten doves flew up into the air out of nowhere; they circled the clearing, never rising above the tree line as they performed strangely precise acrobatics. As the audience were distracted by the birds, the magician took of his hat, or rather, more accurately, he allowed his hat to rise into the air, then with a snap of his fingers the doves dove into it one at a time, and as soon as the last bird had disappeared, so had the hat. The audience gasped and cheered at this trick marvelling at its impressiveness and contemplating how he could pull it off. Before they had too much time to think about it, however, he had started his next trick. Prue couldn't deny that the man was an impressive showman; he made the audience laugh and feel included, whilst never skipping a beat between the tricks. Except Prue could tell that these weren't tricks, they were the real deal. Whoever this man was, he was exposing magic every time he performed and yet because he told everyone he was simply performing tricks, that was all they saw.
For his final trick, the man once more offered his deck of cards to a member of the audience, telling them to pick a card, show it to everyone else before returning it to the pile. When the young woman handed back the cards, he slowly kissed her hand in thanks, looking up into her disbelieving face, flashing her one of his most charming grins, before suddenly throwing the cards up into the air, letting them all scatter amongst the crowd, except they never reached the crowd as, as soon as they were in the air, each of the fifty two cards exploded into confetti and sparks. The confetti rained down on the crowd in a far greater quantity than should have been produced from that many cards. The sparks lingered in the air forming the shape of the card the woman had produced. She screamed in delight, confirming that that was her card as everyone else gave him one final cheer and round of applause as he bowed. Suddenly his hat was in his hand, and he was offering it out to the crowd encouraging they put what they thought the show was worth.
"Want to put some money in the hat?" Chris muttered. He passed the coin Wyatt had given him earlier into Prue's hand, pushing her towards where the crowd were clustered around the magician. She couldn't help but notice that everyone else seemed to be putting at least ten dollars into the hat, and yet as she examined the coin Chris had passed her, she was it wasn't even American tender.
After she tossed the coin into the hat, ignoring the glares of the fans that were placing fifty's into the hat, she wandered back to Chris, who then proceeded to turn on his heels and walk away. "Don't we need to speak with him?" Pointed out Prue as she hurried to catch up to his fast pace, "I mean wasn't that the point of this?" Chris didn't reply, his eyes flitting warily to the other audience members who were leaving the area with them.
After a minute, Chris led her off of the path, cutting across the grass until he reached a bench looking out over the lake. "He doesn't like to be surprised." He explained shortly, rubbing his hands to keep them warm. "The point of the coin is to request a meeting, and then he transports the owner to the location of his choice." Prue nodded, silently complementing the man's logic. They sat in the cold for a while, Chris deep in thought as to what he was going to do, and Prue had no wish to disturb him. After about half an hour, Prue noticed her hand had started to glow faintly blue. Chris was the first to spot this, grabbing her hand just in time as she was transported away.
They reappeared in a large empty room. It had tinted windows along one wall, and looking out Prue realised they were still in New York, except now they were high up in one of its skyscrapers. She stood staring out at the beauty of the city at night, before Chris interrupted her thoughts. "It's not real." He told her bluntly. "It's just another one of his tricks." To prove his point, Chris waved his hand over the window, and the picture changed from the New York Skyline to a large dense rain forest. As Prue watched, she saw a large monkey swing past through the trees, seeming to come right at them before disappearing.
"You know, one would think that meeting a time traveller would be a once in a life time event, yet here I am meeting two in as many days. I am either very lucky or cursed." The pair wheeled around to face the magician they had seen earlier. He had removed his cloak and black wig revealing a sharp suite and short scruffy brown hair. He flashed his show smile at the pair of them, and gestured them to take a seat on the sofa which hadn't been there before.
"What makes you think we're time travellers?" Challenged Prue, not taking a step towards the offered seating.
"Oh, I don't think you're a time traveller, Charmed one." He drawled, and with a wink he added; "You're far too young and beautiful." Prue frowned, clearly unimpressed. "As to your question of why I believe he is a time traveller however…" He threw the coin Prue had place into his hat earlier at her, suggesting she examine it further. According to its markings it was a £1 coin, and looking at it, Prue could instantly see how he knew about the time travelling.
"The date." She stated and the man smiled and nodded.
"That and the fact that the coins I give out are enchanted so if you run your thumb over the monarch's face, my face is revealed." Prue followed his instructions, and indeed the face of the man before her was revealed on the coin. She looked up frowning, not understanding how this gave anything away. "In this time we have a Queen." He explained, and indeed as she ran her finger over it once more the face of a different, vaguely familiar man was revealed.
"And how do you know I'm a Charmed one?" Asked Prue, clearly suspicious of this cocky witch. He simply rolled his eyes, not bothering to explain his sensing power as he turned instead to Chris.
"So, future boy, first thing first, if you're here to beg for my assistance on your master's behalf, you're out of luck. I don't enter into deals I know nothing about, and the fact that I know and apparently trust him in the future does not change that." He told Chris bluntly, sitting down on a newly appeared chair, resting his feet on a table which hadn't been there two seconds ago "Second thing second, we've been here for a good few minutes now, and you have yet to make your introductions, which I find very rude. And third thing third, how the hell did the twice blessed become infected by the source's magic in the first place?"
"Oh right yeah." Chris responded, hurrying forward slightly so as he stood between the man and Prue. "Um firstly, Wyatt isn't my master and I'm not exactly here to ask you to help him, I'll explain in a second." He began quickly, "Secondly, Adric, I'm Chris Halliwell, the original time travellers brother and this is Prue, the eldest Charmed one, Prue, this is Adric he's an English-"Adric interrupted him with a small cough, making Chris amend his words, "-right, sorry, Welsh conjuror who can also sense powers." Adric shot to his feet, moving quickly to Prue's side, offering out his hand which he shook."
"And thirdly?" He prompted. Chris shrugged. He had no real idea as to how Wyatt was so miraculously transformed from sweet and kind older brother to the source of all evil in a few months, but he knew he had to say something.
"Thirdly, he decided that there was no such thing as good and evil and therefore believes that by taking in the sources power he has simply added to his own and it is in no way an evil thing." He summarised as clearly as he could given his own lack of comprehension when it came to his brother's logic.
"Okay then." Stated Adric, oddly merrily as he lead Prue over to the sofa and beckoned her to sit, which this time she did, and he sat down next to her, before leaning back and turning towards Chris. "So, explain to me your first point in more detail."
"Okay, look. I know you don't enter into deals in which anything is kept from you, and I can't promise you the whole truth, but what I can promise is that if you don't help me, he will do something terrible to a lot of people." He told him hurriedly. Adric frowned.
"That sounds an awful lot like a threat to me." He observed, and suddenly his boyish good looks and grin had been replaced with something noticeably more vampiric.
"Right sorry." Agreed Chris, "All I meant was that I need you to pretend to work with my brother but actually to work for me in stopping whatever he is doing." Adric's eyes narrowed and he clearly doubted that Chris was planning to betray his own brother. "In the future, we have the exact same deal." Chris informed him, trying to get him to trust him. "I lead the resistance with my aunt Paige, and you work with me to pass information about Wyatt's plans to the people that can stop him. You're so successful that you have exactly the same position in the resistance and Wyatt's army." He added, attempting to appeal to the witch's large ego. Adric nodded in understanding, before turning to Prue.
"What do you think I should do?" He asked.
"Well, help Chris and me of course." Replied Prue, slightly confused, "Why else would I have come." Adric shrugged.
"I don't know." He replied casually, "You could simply have been impressed by my show and come along to persuade me not to have any part in this and to protect my pretty neck." As if to emphasise his words, he stretched out his neck to its full length, rubbing the side of the neck which was nearest to Prue.
"I've seen prettier." She responded, with a small smile making Adric pout.
"Besides what makes you think that by defying the Source of all evil your neck would be in any way safe?" Pointed out Chris.
"The boy makes a good point." Confessed Adric, not tearing his eyes away from Prue, "Although not perhaps the point that he meant to make, as what he said effectively pushes me towards being loyal to the source, and betraying you."
"Ah, but then you'd have the Charmed Ones on you." Pointed out Prue and Adric's eyes widened in mock fear.
"Well that sounds rather fun." He responded, wiggling his eye brows, causing Prue to hit him on the arm. "Ow!" He exclaimed, pretending to have fallen of the sofa as a result and rolling around on the floor in pretend agony, until eventually Prue laughed out an apology and he lay on his stomach, rested his head in his hands and looked up at Chris, taking a few minutes to consider. "Alright." He agreed eventually. "Helping the Charmed one's to defeat a time traveling source with the help of a second time traveling Halliwell, I don't think I've heard of more fun." And once more he grinned his trademark grin.
Ok, so I know what you're thinking, why introduce a new OC, when I have so many awesome cannon characters to chose from. But I looked for a while, and there were no characters who where sufficiently powerful and awesome before and after their first encounter with the sisters so I decided to make my own :)
Thanks for Reading!
