Disclaimer: La, la, la, la, I can't hear you, la, la, la, la !

Ch. 42:

Paige leaned down to check the crystals at Jinny's feet as the demon watched her.

"You think these crystals can hold me?" she demanded.

She gingerly stretched out her hand to test the cage. It zapped her and she lowered her arm.

"Nope, not for long." Paige replied. "That's why we're putting you back in your bottle."

"When I form my empire, the first thing I'm gonna do is rid the world of witches." Jinny growled.

"Really?" Meredith said, surprised, from where she leaned against the wall. "I think the witches might have something to say about it."

"It doesn't matter." Paige interjected. "Because, when you're back in your bottle, the first I'm going to do is put you in the microwave. Ha! How so you like that? Come on, Mer."

She took Meredith by the arm and pulled her out of the room. Without them noticing, Jenny lifted her hands, holding her palms outward, closing her eyes and concentrating.

Meanwhile, Paige pulled Meredith into the next room, where Chris was pulling a blanket over Piper and Leo, who were fast asleep on the couch. He stood back and sighed.

"Mer, please don't antagonize the demon under house arrest." Paige pleaded.

"But she's just…so annoying." Meredith sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"I know." Paige admitted.

She looked over at Piper and Leo.

"They're still asleep?" she asked. "Have you tried smelling salts?"

"It won't work." Chris replied. "Trust me."

He kneeled down dejectedly near their feet, staring at them.

"What's wrong with them?" Paige asked.

"It's a long story." Chris said.

"I don't know, why don't you give me the cliff notes version?" Paige said, making Chris sigh again. "Come on, Chris. You and Meredith and Leo and Phoebe have all been acting weird since before the demon attacked. What's going on?"

"All right." He said, standing up.

"Chris." Meredith warned.

"I made a little wish." He admitted.

"You did what?" Paige demanded.

Meredith sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Two little wishes." Chris continued.

"Oh, great, it's not bad enough I have to worry about Richard." Paige sighed. "Now I have to worry about you, too. What did you wish for?"

"For Leo to forgive me." He said. "Which, by the way, was an accident."

"And?" Paige prompted when he stopped.

"For Piper and Leo to sleep together." He continued, wincing.

Paige's jaw dropped and Meredith covered her face with her hand.

"You…" Paige sputtered, looking between them. "Oh, my god, you are sick! What is wrong with you?"

Chris shook his head and tried to interrupted, but Paige just ran right over him.

"You're disgusting!" she yelled. "You are some creepy registered sex offender from the future, just – "

"No, no, no!" Chris protested.

"Oh, my god!" Paige continued. "You're so gross!"

"I'm Piper and Leo's son!" Chris yelled back.

Paige froze.

"What?" she asked softly.

"They're my parents." Chris told her quietly. "I came back to save my family."

"You're serious." Paige said, shifting her gaze from Chris to Meredith.

The younger girl nodded.

"Christopher Perry Halliwell." She confirmed for her adoptive aunt. "The three of us, him, me, and Wyatt, grew up right in this house."

"But that will only continue to be true if I can save myself." Chris said. "Because if my mom doesn't get pregnant in the next month, there is no me."

"And with no Chris comes no Jenny, no resistance, and Wyatt simply grinds the world beneath his heel." Meredith added. "And I probably die fairly young. Or wind up queen of the Earth. Either way, I'm against that future."

"This is all so wrong…" Paige groaned, "and this…has been such a long day."

She collapsed into the chair with a sigh. Chris glanced at Meredith and she motioned him forward, so he kneeled in front of Paige.

"Look…" he told her, "I'm gonna orb over to Richard's, okay? And grab the bottle."

"No, you can't." Paige replied. "He's, uh – he's crazy right now. He might hurt you, okay? I need to strip him of his powers. It's a whole thing."

"Well, how's that gonna help?" Meredith asked.

"Well, he's been corrupted by magic and if I don't strip him of his powers, I might not be able to save him." Paige told her. "Who else knows about this?"

"About me?" Chris asked and Paige nodded. "Just Phoebe, and obviously Mer."

Paige took a deep breath.

"All right, you two watch Jinny." She ordered. "I'm gonna go make this potion, okay?"

"Okay." Chris replied.

She got up and headed out of the room as Chris stood and looked down at his parents. Meredith watched him for a moment before getting up and joining him, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her head on his chest. After a moment, he wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly. Paige looked back and smiled slightly before continuing on.

The young couple just stood there until Meredith finally broke the silence.

"Does this mean we're still getting Uncle Henry?"

Chris sighed and shook his head.

Inside her bottle, Phoebe was running from side to side, trying to tip it over.

"Come on!" she muttered, running back to the other side.

Outside, the bottle rocked from side to side on the counter in Richard's magic vault. He wandered around, searching for something on the shelves. Phoebe, meanwhile, continued to run back and forth, causing the bottle to rock back and forth on the counter. Finally, with one last push, the bottle tipped over and she zoomed out in a plume of blue smoke. She looked around and spotted Richard.

"Oh, thank god." She exclaimed. "I thought a demon got me! Why didn't you let me out?"

"I'm not ready for you yet." Richard replied, still searching the shelves.

Phoebe looked around again and realized where they were.

"Hey, we're in the black magic vault." She said slowly. "Um, is there a phone around? 'Cause I'd really love to call Paige and just check in."

"No, you're not." Richard told her. "I know I've got a book of wishes around her somewhere."

"Wishes?" Phoebe repeated as he searched the drawers.

"Yep." Richard replied. "Gotta get the wording right."

"Yeah, maybe you should just wish for sleep, because I'm really good at that wish!" Phoebe told him.

"I just want Paige to accept me the way I am, with magic." He replied. "It's the only way we'll work."

"I don't think magic is the answer to your problems." Phoebe said. "I think it's the cause of your problems."

"Oh, they got you brainwashed, too, right?" he said thoughtfully. "I'm gonna have to cast a spell on the entire family."

He turned to another shelf.

"Aha!" he said, grabbing a book. "Here it is."

There was a flash and Paige orbed into the vault.

"Paige, I told you, don't orb in and surprise me." Richard told her angrily.

"He's not himself right now." Phoebe warned her.

"How come you didn't tell me Chris was my nephew?" Paige demanded.

"Yeah, maybe we could talk about that later, because your boyfriend's about to woo-woo!" Phoebe shot back.

"Look, I'm fine, all right?" Richard said to Phoebe. "I just need to do some reading. I'll call you when I'm ready."

Paige shook her head.

"This is for your own good." She told him.

She threw a potion at him and he deflected it with a wave of his hand, the force of his magic sending her and the vial slamming into the next room and a pillar.

"Paige!" Phoebe yelled, rushing past Richard to where her sister lay on the ground, not moving.

Jinny stood with her hands still outstretched, concentrating, as the doorbell rang.

In the other room, Chris and Meredith exchanged a look before getting up and walking to the door. When Chris pulled it open, they found Greg on the other side.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work or something?" Chris demanded.

Meredith elbowed him in the side.

"Can we help you, Greg?" she asked the fireman.

"I'm on a break." He told them. "I came to surprise Piper."

"Oh." Chris replied. "Little booty call, huh?"

Meredith elbowed him again, harder this time. He winced and glared at her, and she glared right back.

"Is she here?" Greg asked, looking between them.

"She's asleep." Meredith told him, her glare not leaving Chris. "We'll let her know you stopped by."

Chris began to shut the door, but Greg put his hand out to stop the door, pushing it back open.

"Wait." He said. "I don't believe you."

"Okay." Chris agreed. "See for yourself."

He stepped back and motioned Greg inside. As he followed the other man, Meredith began hitting her head against the door.

Greg rounded the corner and stopped short at the sight in front of him.

"Oh…" he murmured.

Standing behind him, Chris waved his hand and used his power to moved Piper so her head was resting on Leo's chest, and Leo's arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"You still want me to tell 'em you stopped by?" Chris asked, slinging his arm around Greg's shoulder.

"Uh, no, that-that won't be necessary." Greg replied.

Chris patted him on the shoulder and winced as he heard Meredith hit her head against the door again.

In the other room, Jinny was still concentrating. Finally, the flying carpet flew under the Conservatory doors. It didn't even pause as it flew straight to Jinny and into the cage, short-circuiting it completely. The carpet turned to ash and fell to the ground.

Jinny calmly stepped over the circle.

Chris shut the front door and turned to Meredith.

"What?" he demanded. "I'm doing what I have to save myself."

Meredith sighed.

"I know." She replied. "I just wish you didn't take such pleasure in it."

"It's for the best." He told her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her back to the sitting room.

Inside, Jinny stood over Leo and Piper, a fireball in her hand.

"Take me to the bottle." She told them.

Paige slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Standing off to the side were Phoebe and Richard, who quickly moved to help her to her feet.

"You okay?" he asked as he pulled her up. "I-I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." She interrupted. "It's fine."

"I'll make it up to you." He told her, looking at Phoebe.

"No, no, no!" Phoebe said, holding up a finger to stop him. "Not that way."

"No more wishes." Paige stressed.

"No, no, it's okay." Richard told them. "It's not for me. Phoebe I wish you free."

A whirlwind of blue smoke rose up around Phoebe and completely hid her from view. A second later, it moved from her to Richard, engulfing him in a gray haze. When it cleared, they saw Richard was now dressed as the genie.

"Uh, what is this?" he asked, looking down at himself.

They all jumped as Chris, Meredith, and Jinny orbed into the foyer, the fireball still in Jinny's hand.

"What are you doing here?" Phoebe demanded.

Jinny threw the fireball and everyone ducked. Chris reached out to hit Jinny, but she anticipated the attack, grabbing his arm and tossing him into Meredith, sending them both into the wall.

Paige and Phoebe quickly got to their feet in time to see Jinny pick up the bottle. Richard got to his feet as she stared at the bottle.

"Genie, I wish the Charmed Ones dead." She told him.

The sisters looked at each other as Richard put his hands together and nodded. Both Phoebe and Paige fell to the ground, dead.

"NO!" Chris screamed as Meredith stared in horror.

He scrambled to his feet and rushed to them, while Meredith seemed unable to move. She just sat there, staring, as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Now, into the bottle." Jinny ordered Richard.

Richard crossed his arms and disappeared into a cloud of gray smoke that shot back into the bottle. Meredith moved over to Chris and fell to her knees next to him as he looked up at Jinny.

"My condolences." She said, smirking at them.

With that, she shimmered out of the room, the bottle in her hand, as Chris and Meredith just stared at the spot she had been.

Finally, Meredith turned to Chris, and she stared at him.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

Chris just closed his eyes and shook his head, tears falling.

A/N: So what's up, my people? I know it's been awhile, so let me know what you thought.

Abbey