Disclaimer: Nothing in the Charmed world belongs to me and no copyright infringement is intended.
A/N: Look at this, another update. If I keep this up someone's gonna accuse me of going back to my old ways. Seriously though, I probably won't update again this weekend unless my husband just doesn't have anything else planned for me to do.
Anyhow, oh how the theories are flying now. Just what I like to see. I also got a rather interesting anon review that when I first started reading I was preparing myself for a flame, but no, no flame. Actually a very good, well thought out review. Some of those theories I agree with, some I don't but we'll all have to wait and see what happens in the end. But anyhow, here is the mostly Chris and Piper chapter that I mentioned, even though I did add some Phoebe and Paige to it. Not originally planned but it was pointed out that I was neglecting them, so I had to correct that.
Chapter 9 Someone To Care For Him
Piper had spent most of the day playing over the scene in the attic in her head. Though she was very mad at Chris for all of the deceptions he had been feeding them since his arrival, she still couldn't shake the sound of his voice as he spoke about the Leo in his future. She would have expected him to be angry when he threw around accusations such as those but instead he had sounded for lack of a better word … wounded. Had her family truly meant that much to him in his future? She couldn't deny the feeling his voice had given her. She had wanted to instinctively go into mothering mode. She wanted to protect her child, her little boy and if what Chris said was true her second son might need it in the future.
"No. Damnit, Leo won't hurt his own son. I know that," she chided herself remembering the picture they had made the other morning while playing racecars. "Leo loves him already."
But Chris was so positive that that would change someday. Well Chris just had to be wrong, she convinced herself as she headed out the door. She had a long day and night ahead of her at P3 and the last thing she wanted to worry about was their Neurotic Whitelighter and his theories about her husband.
"Wow, no wonder he hates you so much," Paige pointed out as she sat in the chair opposite Leo in the kitchen.
"Yeah, none of us really had thought about the fact that he might actually know us in the future," Phoebe added deep in thought. "But from what you say, he does and he's pretty protective over the boys."
Both sisters had showed up that morning wanting to check in on the rest of their family and Leo had described the scene from the attic earlier. It still was bothering him that Chris thought he could be that way to his son. He looked down smiling at said son who since that morning had spent most of his time curled up on Leo's lap. The small boy had drifted off to sleep not to long before and had his arms draped loosely around Leo' midsection with his head lying on his chest. Leo could only guess that the boy had somehow sensed the turmoil he felt and was attempting to assuage it by being as close to the man as possible. "No matter what Chris says I did in his future, I can't become that. I could never hurt this little guy," he whispered placing a tender kiss upon the boy's brow, which caused him to stir only slightly in his sleep.
The truth was that the small boy had been so confused by the feelings of hate that drifted from his older self that it had frightened him and he could see just how much the words he had said had hurt his father. He didn't understand why the older Chris wanted to hurt him but he certainly did not, so he had tried to sooth the man's pain in the same way that the others had been soothing his since he had arrived, by holding him and giving him lots of hugs. If he could remember how to talk he would have also told the man that his older self didn't really mean it and that he was a great father.
"Of course you won't hurt him, Leo. We all know that. Your boys mean everything to you," Phoebe pointed out. "But I'm worried about Chris," she added almost hesitantly. Leo had decided to be totally honest with them and had told them about how he had found Chris the other night and the shape he was in. "He's always drove us mercilessly on these demon hunts but what you described sounds like he's being downright reckless with himself."
"Yeah, but if that's what it takes to save Wyatt… Can we really complain?" Paige asked pointing out something that she knew was sort of horrible on her own part, but she had to be honest about her feelings on the subject. "I mean we all want Wyatt to be safe, and sure Chris is wearing himself out but he is a Whitelighter. Other than a Darklighter arrow he doesn't have to really worry about killing himself by doing this."
Phoebe shook her head at her sister's words. When had they become so mercenary when it came to protecting their nephew? "Paige, we don't have the right to ask Chris to put himself through all of this, even if it is to save Wyatt."
"But that's my point. We never asked him to. If he's willing to do this for Wyatt than I say let him go right ahead." She knew her words sounded cold but how could she worry over some secretive Whitelighter from the future instead of her own flesh and blood here in the present who could very well be killed.
Phoebe knew there was no arguing with her sister's logic but everything about it still felt completely wrong to her. Chris mattered too and she wished she could convince her sisters of that fact.
Leo had been listening to the conversation and had to admit that both sides made for a good argument. "Phoebe, Paige is right. We have to let Chris do whatever it takes to save Wyatt."
None of them heard the small painful sound that came from the hallway as Chris stood just outside the kitchen door. He had orbed in to try to salvage the rest of the day after vanquishing over a dozen demons in his earlier rage. But he had stopped short of entering the room and had watched and listened. He could see just how much Leo cared for the small boy on his lap and Chris had decided that just maybe this time Leo would be different. It had given him a little hope for the future, but then their words had taken him off guard. Apparently they all knew about his demon vanquishing sprees. Phoebe's words had made him want to smile. Always protective Aunt Pheebes. Even in the past, when she didn't know who he was she had to defend him. That had made his Aunt Paige's words a little easier to swallow, but honestly with the information she had about him Paige was being the most logical out of the bunch.
But then Leo had sided with her and part of him had really wanted him not to. After the concern Leo had been starting to show for him he had hoped that it would cause Leo to be more likely to agree with Phoebe. But he should have been used to it by now. Leo always chose Wyatt first. Instead of sticking around Chris decided it was best to just orb out and let them continue their conversation without him listening in anymore so with a heavy heart he orbed out not hearing the rest of what Leo had to say.
"But I want to keep a better eye on Chris. No matter what he is or who he is, he deserves our concern too. I really don't want him to exhaust himself to the point where he makes a fatal mistake that might have him end up with a Darklighter arrow in the chest," Leo added with a slight bit of fear in his voice.
"Yeah, I didn't really think about that happening," Paige conceded. "And knowing him, he'd be too stubborn to call for your help too."
Chris orbed into the backroom of P3 and slumped on the lumpy couch that had been his home away from home for several months now. His head sunk back as he closed his eyes on the world around him. Why should he think that things were gonna change? He wanted so desperately for this Leo to be different from the others he had memories of. This Leo had been the first and only one to ever show any concern for him in any timeline, and that had begun to make him lower his guard. Why was he doing that? He knew better. Then again, why was he doing a lot of things he wondered? His actions of late were very unlike him or at least the other versions of him that had traveled back in time. They had all been so confident and so sure that they'd be the one to fix everything and to save Wyatt. But this time around everywhere Chris looked all he saw was pain and fear. Afraid that he'd fail, afraid that they'd find out, afraid that he'd let himself care too much, afraid that things wouldn't change and also afraid that they would.
Chris hadn't noticed when the door had opened. He had been so exhausted that his troubled mind was almost overcome by sleep. But it wasn't long when he noticed a scent that he knew very well permeate the room and his eyes flew open to see Piper standing in the doorway staring at him in a very perplexed manner.
He sat up immediately and looked down self consciously noticing that he hadn't changed his cloths yet and they were covered in demon goo.
Piper wasn't sure what to say. Leo had told her about his demon hunts but part of her hadn't believed him but the proof was right before her. He was covered in what remained of the demons he had vanquished and whether he had noticed it or not he even had a small gash on his left temple that had dried blood crusted around it. He was also filthy with underworld dirt and his hair was wringing wet with sweat. Whatever she had to say about him she couldn't accuse him of being frightened of hard work. What she did say surprised them both though. "Chris, didn't your mother ever teach you to clean up after a vanquish before you sat on the furniture?"
Chris stood immediately glancing down at the couch that didn't seem to look too worse for wear. "Yeah, she did," he finally answered her in a sheepish tone.
"Well, I suggest you get to it then," she said turning and leaving him in privacy to clean up.
Chris shook his head at the strange way she was acting. But it was her furniture he was sitting on so it was a fair request he decided. With that he took her advice and cleaned himself up.
After a couple of hours of work Piper realized that she hadn't heard anything else out of Chris and wondered whether he was even still in the club, so she made her way back to his room and opened the door peeking in. The light was still on but the room's occupant was asleep sitting strait up on the couch with his head leaning back against the wall behind it. He did look slightly better than before though. He and his cloths were at least clean even if the gash in his temple still looked rather nasty. Apparently it had opened back up and started bleeding again after his shower and there was now a line of dried blood running down the side of his face.
She had closed the door behind her to block out the noises of the patrons that had started to fill her club, not wanting them to wake him. She stared down at his young features and was slightly shocked at how young he really did look when he wasn't griping at them to go on another demon hunt. She had to remind herself that he was a Whitelighter though and that meant that he could be any age for all she knew. But that also made her wonder exactly how one so young had died. She also wondered if they had known him while he was alive too. But she doubted she'd ever know the answers to those questions. Chris would never reveal anything of himself to them. But still the part of her that was a mother couldn't help but worry about him after seeing how far he was pushing himself.
She was about to creep out quietly to let him sleep but she stopped as she suddenly saw him wince in his sleep.
"What, are you gonna cry like a little baby now, Chris?" the blonde young boy said shoving his little brother down.
"Stop it, Wyatt," Chris called climbing back to his knees and then onto his bed.
"Or what? You'll tell Mom?" Wyatt asked flopping onto his own bed and staring up at the ceiling that she had decorated with the stars and planets of the solar system.
Chris stared over at his brother and shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't tell. He never did. No matter how mean Wyatt was to him or how many times he hurt him, he'd never tell. "Just don't, okay. And I'm not gonna cry, so shut up."
"Hmph, you were a cry baby when you came to live here and you always will be," Wyatt said picking up a basketball from his bedside table and tossing it into the air.
Chris scowled deeply when he heard those words. He hadn't cried in nearly four years. Not since he was eight years old and Wyatt had started teasing him about it. "I'm not," he whispered bitterly.
"Aren't you?" Wyatt asked glancing in Chris' direction just as he changed the direction that the ball was heading using telekinesis and slammed it into Chris' face.
Chris hadn't expected that and pain exploded through his nose and his right eye as the added force of telekinesis caused the ball to slam harder than any regular throw would have done.
The ball then bounced off his face and slammed through the window between their beds. Chris reached up grabbing his nose as blood poured from it and he wanted to scream in agony.
The crashing noise of breaking glass brought both Piper and Leo into the room expecting demons attacking but both were shocked to see nothing amiss besides a broken window and a bloody nose.
"What's going on?" Leo asked angrily.
Piper immediately sat next to Chris and grabbed his hands, which were now covered in blood. "Chris, are you okay?"
Chris pulled his hands away from his face and more blood gushed from his nose.
"It was an accident," Wyatt said immediately before Chris could tell what he'd done.
Chris glared at his brother but didn't speak, knowing that they'd believe Wyatt first anyway.
"And how exactly did this accident occur?" Leo asked staring from one boy to the other.
Wyatt hung his head in shame, knowing that his father wouldn't punish him if he looked dejected enough. "I know. We shouldn't have been playing ball in the house, but it was too late to go outside. We were tossing it back and forth and Chris missed catching it. It sort of bounced off his face and out the window."
Leo looked to Chris and then back to Wyatt. "You are both gonna pay to replace that."
Piper looked up to her husband and scowled. "Can we worry about the window later and your son's nose now? Heal him Leo."
Leo shook his head. "You know if it's not magic related I can't heal it, Piper, and besides maybe this will teach him a lesson not to be playing ball in the house." With that Leo turned and left the room leaving a stunned and angry Piper behind.
Piper didn't know what to make out of the small pained sounds that Chris was making in his sleep. She knew he probably had to be dreaming but whatever it was he was seeing in his dreams were not at all pleasant as he again winced in what seemed like pain. Her immediate reaction was to try to do something to stop the pain.
So she crossed over to him and reached down shaking his shoulder. "Chris, wake up. You're dreaming," she called. But no matter how hard she shoved his shoulder he did not wake. That was disturbing to say the least. She had never seen anyone sleep that soundly before.
Chris made a small pitiful sound in the back of his throat. If he told them the truth, that Wyatt had used magic to slam the ball into his face, Leo could probably heal it if he wanted to, but Chris just shook his head slightly and pulled his mother's hand away from his face. "It's okay, Mom. I think the bleeding is about to stop anyway."
Piper looked at his nose and could see that yes the blood flow wasn't as heavy but still. "I'm gonna go make you an ice pack and get something to clean that up." She turned to Wyatt then. "You, Mister, get to clean the glass up." Then she stood and left the room to do as she'd told her youngest son she would.
Wyatt waited till his mother was out of hearing range and then swiped one hand towards the glass on their bedside table and watched as it flew out the window. "Easy enough," he smirked.
Chris shook his head in disgust as he reached up again holding his aching nose. He knew that the next morning he'd have to go outside and pick up the shards of glass his brother had just disposed of, otherwise some little kid might happen across them and cut their selves. But Wyatt didn't care about that. He didn't seem to care about anyone but himself anymore.
Wyatt gave his brother a rather feral grin. "Good thing you kept quiet. I wouldn't want to have to teach you a lesson."
Chris had been on the receiving end of a few of Wyatt's lessons. None of them were very pleasurable but he couldn't seem weak in front of the bully now. "Whatever," he said bitterly and then laid down facing away from his brother.
"You know, he could have healed you if he wanted to but he didn't want to," Wyatt called out digging the knife in a little deeper.
Chris whimpered again and his eyes flew open all of a sudden. Piper was still standing over him with a look of concern on her face. "Chris, are you okay?" she asked.
Chris sat straight up and grabbed his nose still not realizing he had been dreaming.
"It's okay, you were just dreaming," she said reaching out and steadying him with one hand on his shoulder. His eyes possessed a wild look to them that frightened her slightly. What in the world could have caused such a horrible reaction to a dream?
When his hand came away from his face there was no blood and he sighed as reality hit him and he realized that it was just another nightmare from the past. "Sorry, M.. Piper," he corrected himself quickly. "I thought my nose was bleeding."
Piper looked surprised that he would even remotely mention something that was in his dream. "Must have been one hell of a dream," she commented smiling weakly at him.
"They usually are," he said under his breath then added in a normal voice. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."
"Even though your nose may not be bleeding that gash on your temple looks like it might need some treatment," she said staring at the gash that wasn't bleeding anymore but still looked like it could easily get infected.
Chris stared at her in complete confusion then reached up touching his head where she was staring. He didn't remember getting it but just as she said it was there and it was awfully tender to the touch. "Huh, didn't actually notice it."
Piper's brow wrinkled and a small scowl touched her lips. "Chris, if you are so disoriented during a vanquish that you don't realize you've been injured, I'm thinking you really should lay off the habit of doing so for a while."
Chris sat open mouthed and flabbergasted at how much she actually had just sounded like the mother he had grown up with. He knew he'd have to answer her soon or she'd become suspicious at his inability to speak. "I just… I was…" But no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't come up with an excuse.
"Never mind, Chris. I'll call Leo and he can heal you," she suggested.
Chris immediately shook his head as his eyes widened slightly. "No, don't. I'd rather you didn't."
"Chris, Leo is not mad at you for what you said this morning. He accepts the fact that he might not have been the best father in the future but he really wants to change that and he still wants to help you," she said trying to persuade him into letting them help him.
Chris shook his head. "It's okay. I'd just rather let it heal on its own, okay."
Piper sighed deeply and let go of his arm that she hadn't realized she was still holding onto. "All right, no Leo. But at least let me put something on it," she suggested turning and heading towards the bathroom, not giving him time to say no.
When she returned she had a wet cloth and a first aid kit and proceeded to sit down on the couch beside him.
Chris wasn't sure how to react to this new side of Piper he was seeing. She was just too much like the mother he knew from his own time and it was slightly frightening him. He stayed completely still and barely even breathed as she softly cleaned the dried blood from the side of his face. She even winced as he did when she pushed a little too hard against the gash, just as his mother would do when he was small and had some hurt she needed to clean. Once the wound was clean and she had medicated and bandaged it she pulled her hands back and Chris let himself draw in a deep breath of air. The air was filled with the scent of the lilac shampoo she always used and the remembered scent was enough to make him catch his breath but she didn't seem to notice this as she looked away from him and towards the floor.
"Chris, I'm sorry that I've been so hard on you recently," she said quietly not able to look at his face as she did. "I never realized everything you were putting yourself through."
Chris immediately felt the urge to stop her. He had never wanted to make her feel guilty. Not her. Not the one person who had always been there for him as a child. "It's okay, Piper. You were just protecting your child. That's what mothers are supposed to do."
Piper nodded accepting the fact that he didn't hold her responsible for her distrust of him then she looked up to him and wondered something aloud. "Do you have someone back in your time to protect you like my boys do?"
She couldn't imagine just how hard he would take that question as he fought the urge to break in front of her. She had asked him the only thing that always broke his shell, but he knew he couldn't let her see that, but still she would expect an answer. His voice was very quiet as he answered her and he had to look away. "Not for a very long time now." Six years, three hundred forty eight days, nine hours and thirty some minutes, he added sadly to himself remembering the day of her death like it had only been yesterday.
Piper heard the pain in his voice and could have kicked herself for asking him that. "I'm sorry, Chris. That was a really dumb question to ask a Whitelighter." Of course he had lost those that had loved and protected him. And that thought made her wonder about the woman who had been Chris' mother. She wondered how much pain and heartache the woman had to have suffered at losing a son so young. She could only imagine what it would be like to lose one of her own children at his age. It was something that was very frightening to think of.
Chris couldn't respond to her statement. He couldn't tell her that he wasn't a true Whitelighter and that he had lost his mother at the age of fourteen. He would have to just let her draw whatever conclusions she would about him.
"Chris, can we just start over with a clean slate here? If you promise not to lie to me, I'll promise not to be so hard on you," she suggested feeling slightly awkward.
He nodded and agreed to her suggestion without pause. "I still can't tell you about the future, Piper, but I'll do my best not to lie to you." He knew that he would probably have to break that promise sometime soon but he'd promise her anyway just to make her happy.
"Deal," she said patting his arm lightly and then stood to leave.
But he couldn't let her go without saying one more thing. "Piper."
She turned back to him waiting for whatever he wanted to say.
"Thanks," he said giving her a small smile as he motioned towards his head, meaning so much more than that.
"That's okay. We all need some one to take care of us every now and then, even Neurotic Whitelighters," she answered turning back and walking out of the room.
After the door swung closed Chris slumped down resting his elbows on his knees as he covered his face with his hands trying to hold back the scream that wanted to surface. Her scent was all around him and it only served to remind him more of the woman that had cared for him for so many years and of how horribly she had been taken from him. He had thought on several occasions how much easier it would have been if she didn't dislike him so much but now realized just how wrong he was. Her hate had been the only thing separating them and keeping his devastating emotions concerning her death at bay. Now he felt it renewed even further and stronger than ever before.
A/N: Okay, yeah, I had to do that. Piper was being way too much of a bitch for my tastes. Yeah, I know. She was that way in the tv show too, but she couldn't be that way always. Chris did actually love her. Okay, next chapter I give them one more clue as to who Chris really is. You'd think they'd catch on eventually, wouldn't you? I guess we sometimes only see what we want to though. The chapter after that is where the shit really starts hitting the fan and then things start moving at one heck of a faster pace. So stay tuned and hold on for a bumpy ride. Oh, and as always reviews are much appreciated.