A/N: So the inspiration for this came from a couple of lines in Taylor Swift's Mastermind and it just got me think - what if Piper had suspected who Chris was all along? This rather long one-shot includes some scenes from the season 5 finale, and the first few episodes of season 6 up until episode 6. There's a few of my own imagined scenes taking place in between, and a bit of delving into some thoughts/feelings along the way. The last section of this takes place just after the end of 6x06 My Three Witches. Rewatching Season 6 while knowing exactly who Chris is feels like a whole different experience. I particularly enjoy the start of My Three Witches - the way Chris freaks out, gets all stressed, but the girls are ignoring him and shushing him. But there's just something about the way Piper tells him to relax and that she's got cookies in the oven, that really got my 'hmm, what if' creative juices flowing. And then sort of working backwards from there, there are just several moments where it feels like someone could have guessed something! Admittedly, my little added scene mid Oh My Goddess is probably a bit of a stretch but...is it?
Disclaimer - I don't own Charmed or any of the characters etc. They just won't leave my head.
"Who, who are you?" Piper asks confused.
"That's Chris, he's from the future." Phoebe tells her with wide eyes, and a smile.
"Yeah, but just like twenty years or so." He adds casually.
Piper lets out a confused and surprised sound somewhere between an uh huh and a nervous laugh. "Friend or foe?" She asks gesturing for Phoebe to come towards her.
"Not so sure yet," Phoebe says.
"What do you mean?!" Chris exclaims, gesturing towards Paige. "I saved Paige, didn't I?"
"Oh, you call that saving, do you?" Phoebe mocks, while Piper, stunned, looks between them.
"Hey, I'm the one who put my life on the line here. I didn't have to drop everything I was doing just to orb in and save her butt…"
"You, you orb?!" Piper asks, her body relaxing some, "You're a white lighter?" She says with a hint of an intrigued smile. Being married to a whitelighter and having both a son and a sister who are half-whitelighters, she finds the knowledge that the new guy can orb somewhat reassuring, even if they're not yet sure who he is or why he's arrived in their attic.
"Who's he?" Leo asks, confused after updating Piper on how many white lighters are now missing.
They hear a loud crash and Piper, Leo and Phoebe rush towards the stairs.
"That's Chris, he's from the future." Phoebe fills in him as they descend the first set of stairs.
"He orbed," Piper said, still stuck on the orbing thing.
"From the future?! Huh?" Leo adds as they race towards the second flight of stairs.
Whitelighters orb through space, sure…but through time? That's unusual, even for them.
"Wait a minute. Where is he?" Piper says worriedly, concerned Chris hadn't followed them.
"Upstairs with Paige," Phoebe says.
"And the book." Leo add sceptically.
"Alright, you to the elf, you keep an eye on our magical houseguests, herd them into the basement or something," Piper says taking charge. She puts her hands together, and raises her head towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go see what future boy is up to."
Up in the attic she finds Chris flicking through the Book of Shadows. "What are you doing?!" She asks as she quickly crosses the room.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" He answers sarcastically. "Trying to find a way to free stone cold Paige over here."
"Step away." Piper demands, placing her hands on the lectern, fingertips on the pages.
"Please, like I haven't looked in this before?" He answers back in a light tone, almost like she should know he's familiar with the Book. "By the way," He says placing his hand on the book. "You should update your goblins entry," He taps the Book and moves to the side. "It'll come in handy some day."
"Goblins?" She asks curiously as she takes his place in front of the book, and he sits casually on the arm of the sofa perpendicular to the Book.
"Yeah, trust me. It's gonna get ugly." His lips very nearly curve into a smile before he puts on a more neutral expression, though is body language is still relaxed. "Look, obviously you don't trust me, but I touched the Book right, and the Book thinks I'm good." He gestures toward the Book. "Shouldn't you?"
"Well maybe you found a way around that?" It's not like he'd be the first person trying to get to the Book.
"Piper, come on," He says in a softer tone. "I'm just trying to help."
"Well then, if that's true, why don't you tell me how to vanquish the Titans?"
Chris then launches into a bit of an exposition as to why it isn't that straightforward, and though his words are serious, he's oddly calm and casual as he reels off historical facts and the inaccuracies recorded in the mortal books.
After rushing down to find Leo in the nursery and sending him away to warn the Elders, Piper lovingly looks down at her son. His wide eyes gazing back up at her, blond hair sticking up from being laid down. There's something so peaceful and innocent in the way he lies there, unaware of the urgency and drama unfolding. She's not quite sure what it is, but some thoughts start connecting in her mind, and a look of concern and revelation cross her features as she glances towards the ceiling. There's something strange going on, that she knows, but why has looking at Wyatt just made her think of the new white lighter in the attic? She looks back down at Wyatt, then back up at the ceiling again curiously, before turning to dismiss the elf nanny.
"It's alright, I've got him."
"Hey little man," She reaches a hand towards him, and he grabs onto her fingers. "You doing okay? There's been a lot going on huh." She lightly tickles him, and he smiles widely at her, so she returns the smile. How could she not? "Daddy's gone to talk to his bosses, but he'll be back." She tries to hide the flicker of concern and doesn't want to dwell on the thought that the Titans are after whitelighter powers, and heading for the Elders. "No orbing to find him, mmkay." She keeps her tone light, and keeps her face as neutral as she can before widening her eyes and playfully tapping Wyatt on his little nose.
She's used to battling demons on a regular basis, and is even somewhat used to herself and her sisters being in constant danger. She is not used to Whitelighters being in any kind of danger, other than the occasional dark lighter. She's definitely not used to the Elders being threatened. What would that mean? She keeps a hand on the edge of the crib and angles herself away, not wanting to leave Wyatt's side yet but needing some time without wanting him to notice her expressions. She bit down on the inside of her lip, worry tightening in her stomach as she thought of the Whitelighters she loved so fiercely. Leo, Paige, Wyatt.
And then her mind settled back on Chris. There was something odd going on. He wasn't telling them something, she was sure of it. She started replaying their brief interactions in her head. They circled like a loop for a moment as she tried to work out what was going on.
Why would a white lighter from 20 years or so in the future have come orbing into their attic? Did white lighters even time travel? Did they need to? Leo had been around several decades, but he'd never mentioned travelling backwards through time, other than to accompany a witch. And she'd never met a time travelling whitelighter, had she? Come to think of it, how many whitelighters had she even met? She's met a few of Leo's charges, whitelighters to be, but really, she's not met many full fledged white lighters at all. Not down here. Obviously there was Leo, and his friend Natalie, and they had met her mom's whitelighter, but that was pretty much it. And then of course, Sam was Paige's dad. Piper's eyes flicked skywards again, then flickered down to Wyatt, and back up towards the attic again. Could it be possible that Chris was like Paige and Wyatt? Part whitelighter and part witch…maybe.
Were there others like Paige and Wyatt? Piper wasn't aware of any, but then if it had been a forbidden love, and she didn't exactly grow up learning the magic of history…There aren't many, that much she's reasonably sure of, but supposes there must be at least a couple of them. Surely it won't have just been Piper and her mother that fell for their Whitelighters and vice versa with Sam and Leo. She briefly starts to ponder the science of whitelighter powers and whether a grandchild would also have orbing abilities, but she quickly realises that's a tangent too far, so tucks that away in a mental folder called 'things to ask Leo later'.
Back to the intriguing whitelighter upstairs. If he was part-witch the time travel would make a bit more sense, but why them, why now? Thinking back on her own adventures through time the common thread was always family. "Oh!" She softly exclaims, stunned as she looks back towards the ceiling again, lips parted and brows slightly furrowed.
Well that would explain a lot, wouldn't it? She holds a hand to the top of her head as she thinks through their earlier interactions. She couldn't work out if he was surprised to see her enter the attic, or just surprised someone had joined them when she first walked in and spotted Paige cast in stone, Chris and Phoebe flanking her. He acted like he knew them, and knew them well. It wasn't just that he'd heard of them, and he didn't act like most other magical beings did upon meeting the Charmed Ones. No, he definitely knew them, and well. He was also clearly comfortable with the book, and like he said the book did trust him. She might have been suspicious, but Phoebe hadn't acted like she was scared of him either. And when she'd gone to check on him, he'd seemed so comfortable and casual with their interaction. He was acting like it was quite normal to be sitting in the attic swapping stories about goblins and demons. And she'd not even needed to introduce herself. He was definitely closer to them than it first appeared, and it probably helped explained why he'd taken slight offence when she asked if friend or foe.
"A Halliwell?" She whispers.
She turns to face Wyatt in his crib again. He's still awake, lying quietly, probably thinking his mother has lost the plot the way she'd ended up pacing the room without realising.
"Is he a Halliwell, huh?" She whispers to her baby in a slightly sing song way, as if he's about to tell her.
She shakes her head, "No, maybe I'm just obsessing, overthinking."
Piper stands next to the crib, bends over, resting her arms and chin on the edge of the crib and gazes at her son. He smiles at her and gurgles, and she can't help but smile lovingly back. She raises her eyebrows at Wyatt "Is mommy just going crazy?"
She watches him quietly for a few minutes, and then readjusts her position. She runs her fingers along his cheek, and then down his chest and tummy.
"He's not you. Yeah, he's not Wyatt," she tells him shaking her head.
She's not totally convinced if her theory adds up yet, but it just feels like there's something telling her that he's one of them. She's not really sure how, or who or when though.
And then she remembers him telling them that in his future Paige didn't survive being cast in stone. She's not totally sure if he's telling the truth about that bit, or whether he was just throwing them off. Either way, he wouldn't say that about his own mother, so that pretty much left…
Her jaw drops, an eyebrow raises, jaw raises slightly, teeth clenched, and then she points a finger at herself and whispers "mine?!" with her eyes wide.
Torn somewhere between not being entirely convinced if she was spot on, or totally wrong, she decides to sit down on the floor of the nursery. She takes a deep breath, steadies her hands on either side of her, before leaning back against the wall. She pulls her legs up in front of her, and closes her eyes for a moment to get her mind to stop racing.
Just as Piper feels her brain slowing down a memory flashes in front of her.
A young girl with short brown hair, a light dusting of freckles, and Leo's pale eyes looking up at her and whispering "Don't worry Mommy, I promise I'll do as you ask. I won't use my magic again, ever."
Piper takes a deep breath as her vision clears, the nursery fully back into focus and her thoughts much slower. She fans herself with hand - this heat is getting ridiculous. If it weren't for the thought of Melinda, Wyatt and the young man upstairs she might be tempted to chalk it up to the heat. But the coincidences, and the similarities between the images that flickered through her mind were just too many signs for her to ignore.
Chris was family, she was sure of it, and very likely one of her future children. But if Chris was her son, why didn't he say anything? Didn't he want her and Leo to know? And, why was he here in a time he didn't even exist in yet?
"Oh I do not have time for this." She rubs her temples feeling a headache coming on from all of this timey wimey stuff and wasn't magic complicated enough as it is? She lets out a small whimper.
"Leo! Leeeooo" She cries out, realising it had been a good while since sent she sent him to check on the Elders. Shouldn't he be back by now? She clambers to her feet, and peers into the crib at Wyatt again. Still awake, but still content. "Where is daddy, huh?"
"What are you doing over here?" Phoebe asks Chris as he roots around some shelves in the attic.
"Nothing, you guys keep this stuff forever, you know that?" He says sniffing a candle.
"You knew the Titans were after the Elders didn't you?" Phoebe asks softly. He turns around, face suggesting he did. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I told you, there's some things I can't tell you. Some things you need to figure out on your own."
"Even at the risk of making things worse?" He doesn't respond, just holds her gaze.
"Alright, what's going on?" Piper asks boldly charging into the room. "Leo's not responding to any of my calls and it's been over 5 hours."
"I really don't know," says Chris
"Well, I really think you do." Piper counters back firmly.
"Look, you're the one who wanted him to go up there in the first place, not me." Chris says walking towards her. Piper wordlessly crosses her arms, holding a stare, daring him to say more. "Alright fine," he relents fairly easily. "Maybe I do know, and if I'm right, he's going to need some serious alone time."
"You know what, cut it out with the cryptic crap." Chris sighs and rolls his eyes, acting not totally unlike a petulant teen being told of be their parent. "You need to go up there and bring him back now. No more games." She says seriously.
"Okay, fine, I'll go." Chris concedes speaking calmly. "But if I were you two, I'd focus on freeing Paige, because you're gonna need her, and soon."
"I swear to god, if he does not come back with Leo, I'm going to blow his ass back to the future, orbs and all." She says frustratedly. It's not that she wants to hurt him, but she's the same when Leo frustrates her - sometimes there's just something so satisfying about scattering his orbs. _
Later, Piper is sitting in the living room, zoned out, mind a million miles away again. She catches herself smiling as Paige appears in front of her saying she was wrapping her head round this Chris thing. Piper had heard her coming down the stairs with Phoebe, she knew she was fine, so she couldn't quite work out whether she was smiling because Paige was no longer in stone, or at the mention of Chris, or perhaps both.
Piper confessed to her sisters about how she was feeling so worried about Leo after Chris saying he thought Leo would need to go through it alone. She's obviously become trusting of Chris, or at least some of what he was saying, but then, she'd had plenty of time to think about it, and if Chris was who she thought he was, then why would he lie about that?
And if Chris didn't want Piper to know who he was, then she figured there must be a reason, and while she was still trying to figure things out in her head, perhaps two can play at that game. She'll follow his lead and see what happens, maybe he'd tell her eventually.
"I know you miss him. I miss him too" Piper tells Wyatt as she holds him to her hip, and he clings to her goddess robes.
"I need help!" Chris says, strolling into Piper's room without thinking to knock. She glances over her shoulder at him briefly before turning round to face him.
"Uh, excuse me. This is my bedroom, you can't just walk in here any time you want to." If he was just a new whitelighter, why would he be strolling in so casually like it wasn't a big deal?
"Yeah, I know, but your sisters need you. I got them working on the Titans but I'm not sure how long that's going to last." He says with a sense of urgency.
"I thought you needed me?" She says. He said he needed help.
"I did. I mean, I do." Piper looks as him, waiting for him to expand. "I need you because they need you. Actually they need Leo. Look, will you please just go deal with them?"
"What's the matter, Chris the all knowing running out of answers?"
"Yes! Yes I am." He starts pacing "Yes, if that will motivate you I'm losing control because I'm watching history repeat itself and no-one's willing to do a damn thing about it." he gestures frustratedly and clearly sounds stressed.
Piper nods "I feel your frustration."
Chris sighs, and starts pacing again. "Piper" he says softly, "If it helps, I get it, okay. I do, really. You need Leo. Your sisters need Leo. But if you can't stop…"
"You forgot the baby. The baby needs his father too." He thinks she's talking about Wyatt, and mostly she is, but if Chris is who she thinks he is - what about him?
"Fine, but if you can't stop missing your husband long enough to see the bigger picture…"
"There is no bigger picture than my family." The bigger picture she's convinced, is about their family after all. It's been a hell of a day, and emotions and frustrations are high, but of course it all comes down to wanting the best for her family.
"Well then pay attention!" He says growing more annoyed. "Because the world I grew up in? Families hardly existed! I never had a chance to know mine."
"Not my fault." She says cooly. He hasn't told them anything about the future yet, she hopes his last line isn't true, that maybe he's just goading her for today's impending battle.
"Not yet." He says softly, with raised eyebrows. Things shifted slightly then as it became apparent that actually, for this fully grown Chris he didn't grow up with the big happy family she'd have wanted for him.
"Is that what this is about?" Piper says, her voice softening slightly. "You blame us for what happened to you?" She couldn't help but wonder if she'd had a part to play in that, or if it was something…unavoidable, outside of her control.
"I just want you to get it right this time," Chris says, his eyes closing for a moment as he wishes she understood, he was imploring her in more ways than one. If ever there was a time to be thinking there's no bigger picture than family, then protecting family is what they're both about and if she can just get things right, both now and when he turns 14… "Use your power of three, use your power as gods. Save the world from going to hell." Wyatt choses that exact moment to gurgle and if their emotions weren't so heightened, Chris might have given a sarcastic laugh at Wyatt punctuating his request to Piper to prevent the world from going to hell.
"If that's what you want, then I will say it one more time, and maybe you will hear me. We need Leo. Now excuse me, I have to go warm up a bottle."
As she heads towards the kitchen, she mulls over what Chris has hinted at about his future. If he's who she thinks he is, and their family isn't there for him then she resolves to do everything in her power to make sure that one day he'll see family is the bigger picture. Nothing matters more than family, not to Piper. _ "Piper, nobody chose this. It chose Leo, what he did up there for all of us was nothing short of a miracle. Now he's receiving the ultimate reward. A Chance to become an…"
"Don't you dare say it!" Piper says hotly, refusing to believe that this is part of their future.
"The world needs sources of good to watch over it." Chris recounts a line he's heard hundreds of times. Pipers eyes flicker at his conviction. "Do you know a source of pure good better than Leo?"
Leo looks up at him, an unusual glimmer of vulnerability is his eyes as he then looks towards Piper.
"Huh" Piper sighs, a part of her does agree. "Leo is not…he's not an Elder, okay, but Elders don't live on Earth, they don't have families. Okay, just tell him you're not an Elder." She implores of Leo.
Leo looks conflicted but says what he knows to be true "I don't know that I can."
"I think you should get back to your sisters." Chris interjects.
"No, not until you tell him."
"They're waiting for you."
"Chris is right, you need to get back to Paige and Phoebe." Leo echoes.
"No," she says adamantly "not until you say it."
"Piper…" Leo stands and moved towards her.
"No." She's shaking her head, trying not to cry.
"Can you give us a minute?" He asks of Chris who slowly backs away.
"Piper," Leo says softly, wrapping her in a hug.
"No, you can't be an Elder." She says, voice full of emotion. "If you're an Elder…you'll have to leave." She says, clearly pained. "Do you want that?"
"Piper, no! You know I don't want to leave you and Wyatt. I love you both, so much. You have to know that." He tells her placing a soft kiss to her forehead.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breathe. "I do but…if you leave us down here…" She casts her eyes down to the floor and feels more vulnerable than she has in a long time. She doesn't want to be fighting, or pleading, and maybe if it were just her then things would be different, but how is she supposed to tell a baby all of this? "I don't know if this family will survive." She says and a tear rolls down her cheek.
"Piper," Leo starts, he takes her hand and moves them both towards the edge of the bed so they can sit. He looks down at their joined hands, glances at his own wedding ring, and then runs his thumb over her engagement ring and wedding band. "I want nothing more than to be by your side, everyday, raising our son together. But it also feels like I need to do this." He looks dejected. "I don't know what to do. I don't know if I can deny it." She studies his face like she's searching for something in it, slowly her face softens slightly as she starts to understand. He isn't willingly trying to abandon them.
"How long?" She asks. "How long would you have to leave for? Can Elders step down?"
Leo sighs and looks down. "Piper, that's not really how it works."
"Well, why the hell not?!" She snaps. "They can't do this, this can't be our destiny. We can't have gone through everything just for this. Surely even the Angel of Destiny can't be so cruel as to tell me our personal destiny wasn't changing and hinting about Wyatt just for us to lose you. That was only a year ago! There has to be another way."
Leo shrugs "I don't know if there is."
Piper frowns, before her eyes light up, remembering something one of the Elders told her earlier. "No, wait, Leo…maybe there is!"
"What?"
"When we were in the sanctuary, one of the Elders, the young one? He said something to me. They owe you." Leo looks confused, so she fills him in. "He was telling us about everything you did to help, to save the rest of them. He said 'we owe Leo everything'. Remind them of that."
"Piper, I don't know…"
"But it has to be worth a try, doesn't it? Maybe there's a way. Look, you can help them get things back on track up there, but maybe that doesn't mean leaving your family behind. They owe you everything, and your family is everything."
Leo lets out a small smile and nods. His family is everything, he would go to the ends of the Earth if it meant keeping them safe. "Yeah, it won't be easy, but it's worth a try."
"Good, okay." Piper says feeling calmer already. She can deal with some uncertainty while they figure things out, but she clings on to the hope she feels. "I'm not willing to lose you. She tells him. "And I don't want my son to grow up without his father." She thinks of her own childhood, having lost one parent young, and having another that was barely around. She wants more for her children.
"I don't want that either." Leo reassures her.
6x04 - The Power of Three Blondes
"I take it this was all your doing?" Paige asks Chris.
"Hey, you're the one who got me here."
"How did you know they weren't us?" Piper asks him. She had thought he would be able to see that those blondes weren't really them, but there was a moment when she lost her confidence.
"Well, in all my life, I've never seen you take the bait the way that witch took it from you." Chris says as a he picks up the Book.
"In all your life?" Phoebe asks picking up on his wording. "You've only known us for two months.
'Ah crap' he thinks and instantly busies himself with the Book. "let's just reverse the magic." And just like that, the confidence Piper had in Chris starts to grow again.
6x05 Love's a Witch
"Piper!" Chris storms across the restaurant.
She's surprised to see him so calmly and softly asks "What are you doing here? Why are you covered in mud?" Chris stands agape for a second, that's not the fiery reaction he was expecting for crashing her date.
"Excuse me a second, who is this?" Her date interrupts before Chris was able to say anything.
"Me? I'm from the future." Chris says with a heavy dose of snark.
Piper's date is obviously confused, and Piper feels annoyance at Chris's blatant risk of exposing himself, so she grabs him and pulls him out of earshot.
"Are you crazy?" She asks him wondering what on earth had possessed him to say that.
"You're not serious about that guy are you?" he asks quietly giving a very sceptical looking in the date's direction.
"Well…uh…you know what…That is none of your business. Where've you been?" She asks looking him up and down again.
"That's none of your business." He replies back with attitude. "Look, you better get home before your sisters kill each other."
If there was any doubt left about Chris' identity after that moment, it quickly dissipated at his very strong reaction and odd behaviour. She felt a pang of guilt - it had all felt wrong anyway. It's not that she really wanted to be out dating, but her sisters had encouraged it and Leo was still a full-time Elder which had meant they were technically separated. She had of course hoped he'd be able to convince the other Elders that they owed him, but as of yet there was no sign of him stepping down and being able to be a family man again.
She wondered whether Chris was loosening up and whether he was close to saying something - his behaviour now being so out of character from what she'd come to expect. He was so tight lipped about the future with her and her sisters, and yet he had no problem telling a random non-magical person in the middle of a restaurant.
"So it worked, right?" Chris asks Piper after she takes the empath blocking potion. "No nausea, no queasiness, nothing like that?" He asks with a hint of concern.
"Nope, nothing." Piper says as she heads towards the door.
"Well looks like we're one big happy family again." Chris concludes.
Leo's been observing him, not totally uncertain that Chris hasn't been up to something all day. "You're not family." He says curtly before turning and leaving the attic.
Chris may not have told anyone who he was, but he'd sensed all of them, save maybe Leo, had started to accept him more and more, and that, layered on top of all those old wounds, well, it stung. Chris hopes Leo didn't catch his reaction as he turned and left. Chris had quickly looked to the side, and tried not to look too disappointed. Once he was sure he was on his own, he pulled out another vial of the empath blocking potion. The last thing he needed was Phoebe to pick up on emotions he was struggling to control.
Piper who had already started descending the stairs, caught Leo's sharp words and winced. Chris probably wasn't going to let that show, and he might not want them to know who he was, but knowing that family is a soft spot for him, that must have stung.
Piper resolves that she needs to take control of the situation, and soon. She needed to find a way for Chris to feel that he could tell her, or she needed to tell him she knew who he was. The thought of Chris feeling like he wasn't part of the family made her wonder if she was right in her initial decision to let him come to her.
She also needed to do something about Leo, and her relationship with him. They'd become more casual and friendly around each other, for Wyatt's sake at least, but it felt cruel seeing him so often, but not being able to really connect with him. Maybe it was time to have a proper discussion and see if there'd been any progress in working on finding a workaround with the Elders. She'd hoped he would have told her if there was a way, but she was feeling a renewed sense of purpose that she needed to fight to keep their family together. Whatever it takes.
6x06 - My Three Witches
The sisters are talking through parts of their non-magic lives, and keep ignoring Chris who is trying to impress on them that they shouldn't be so relaxed after the earlier demon appearance. After all, they've not vanquished him yet, so he'll come back. Each time they ignore him or shush him he gets more and more stressed, worrying about their lack of seriousness, as well as their safety.
"No, no, get back here, we have a demon to hunt! Get back here." He shouts after Phoebe and Paige leave the room.
Piper watches her sisters leave and then looks at Chris. The demon is gone for now, and they really could all do with a bit of normalcy. She gets that he's determined to protect Wyatt at all costs, but this feels like something else. And just like she realises what she'd not been paying attention to as she focused on Paige and Phoebe. He was worried about her, he'd been talking about her almost dying, and almost getting sucked into a pocket realm. The boy was definitely a Halliwell. Despite going toe to toe with demons, they were very good at worrying and obsessing over certain things. There's a hint of a smile as she gets to her feet realising she'd need to try a different tactic to calm him down.
As he throws his head back in defeated frustration, what Piper doesn't know is that the intensity of his freak out and desire to get to the demon before it comes back is the extent of the trauma he carries with him from losing his mother at such a tender age.
Piper casually slings her arm up, resting her elbow on his shoulder, and her chin against her hand in a familiar way that she's not let herself interact with him yet. "You are our new favourite whitelighter and all," she tells him in a light tone, "but you need to lighten up."
He hadn't flinched when she'd touched him, but at that he went from looking at his feet, a finger rubbing his eyes, to looking straight at her.
"No." He tells her "You three need to get serious, because if you keep putting your personal lives before your Wiccan duties you're gonna pay for it." He keeps looking down at her the entire time, hoping his words come across more 'concerned whitelighter' than 'freaking out child', but a part of him hopes Piper hears his words, especially those last few. He can't tell her what happens to her in the future. He won't. But that doesn't mean he won't take every opportunity he can to warn her to be careful.
"Maybe so." It is a job hazard, but at the end of the day they're all human and there has to be some balance, if there's anything she's learnt the last few years it's that. She can't deny who she is, but she also can't only focus on magic and demons. "But not today. I scared away the demon, he's not coming back." Chris relaxes slightly, but is still not totally satisfied. He lifts his head, somewhat defiantly. Accepting, but not totally on board. "I have friends coming, and I also have chocolate chip cookies in the oven." She tries to add a bit of fun into that, and hopes that maybe Chris, like his father, is easily won over with good food. She taps him on the shoulder, and then rushes off. She's hoping that helped lighten his mood, calmed him some but also senses it's best not to linger and dwell on this morning's drama. They did need to talk though, and soon. She couldn't keep pretending she didn't know, and it wasn't fair to Chris that he felt the need to shoulder everything on his own without letting anyone know who he is and what his motivations were.
"Leo, give him a break. He earned it today." Piper tells Leo. She knows Chris had ensured her sisters got to her and Wyatt before the demon could, which was rather touching, but she hated he'd been shot with a dark lighter arrow in the process.
"So, what about you? I heard your social life was interrupted again?"
"Yeah," She says looking down at her bandaged hand, before looking back up at him "But you know there's always tomorrow."
Leo smiles at her "You never give up, do you?"
"No." And she looks straight into his eyes "Not a chance. I firmly believe there will be one day without demons, magic, or pocket realms."
"Goodnight Piper." He says softly, turning to leave.
"Hey, um, before you go could you do me a favour?" She asks unravelling the bandage wrapped around her hand.
"You want me to heal your hand?" He can't fight the smile at her wanting him to help her. "I thought you wanted a normal day."
"Yeah, I did. And apparently, that's not going to be today." She smiles holding her hand to him. He smiled widely as he stretches out his arm to heal her injury. Just as her wound is disappearing, Chris appears in the doorway, making sure to knock this time.
"Hey," he says hesitantly.
"Hey," Piper says warmly, pleased to see him. "How are you feeling?"
"Better, thanks." He moves slowly into the room, body language insecure, coming to stand just behind Leo. "So it's almost time for my hearing with the Elders." He looks down at the floor and crosses his arms, holding them close to his chest. "I thought I'd give you the pleasure of taking me in personally." He continues to hang his head and stands there in discomfort, exactly like a kid standing in front of his father waiting to be told off. Chris isn't looking forward to this at all, he knows this might be his last day before being sent back to his own time, or maybe worse. He'd much rather stick around.
Leo has stayed quiet. He reaches a hand into his pocket and pulls out the Valkyrie pendant. "Yeah, well, uh…maybe I'll just give you this instead."
Chris finally raises his head, that's definitely not what he'd been expecting. "I don't understand."
"Neither do I." Leo says with a smile. Piper also smiles, glad that Leo is easing up on Chris, and glad that means Chris will be sticking around. "Just take it before I change my mind." He passes the pendant to Chris, and then heads back into the nursery to check in on Wyatt.
"Thanks for trying to warn us about the demon. We should have listened to you in the first place."
"Well," he says moving towards her. "As long as you've learnt something at the end of the day, that's all that matters. Right?"
At that line of familiar advice, Piper wondered if they were Chris' own words, or if he was echoing back something she or Leo had told him - would tell him. "Right." She says elongating the vowel, with a soft smile. Chris holds her gaze and smiles back.
As Chris turns to leave she calls him back. "Chris?"
"Yeah?" Green eyes looking up expectantly.
She looks to the nursery where Leo's still watching Wyatt, then back to Chris. "I need to discuss something with you." She smiles, hoping that won't startle him too much. "Kitchen in ten minutes?"
Chris walks into the kitchen where Piper has loaded up a tray of hot chocolates and warm chocolate chip cookies.
He raises his eyebrows. Usually if Piper asks to talk to him it's magic related, but this is feeling different. In fact…she had been acting pretty differently around him all day. What was that about?
"Chris, sweetie, I think it's time we had a chat, don't you?" She sets down the tray on the table in the breakfast nook and invites him to sit.
Slightly unnerved, he takes a seat opposite her and accepts a mug.
He acts confused, suspicious. "What's going on? What did you want to talk about?" He asks picking up one of the cookies. They always were his favourite, especially still warm.
Piper bites the inside of her lip, inhales deeply and then asks quietly. "Are you going to tell me?"
More confusion from Chris.
"Who you really are." She says softly. "You tell us you're Chris from the future, you're here to help protect Wyatt..but there's more to it than that, isn't there?"
"I don't…I can't." He shakes his head. It's not that he doesn't want to tell her but he hadn't planned on telling anyone. It was supposed to be better that way, he'd planned to stay close but to keep a distance. He wasn't sure if he could do that if they knew. And, he wasn't really here for him. Protect Wyatt at all costs, that was supposed to be the mission.
"Chris." She says gently, and his eyes meet her. Green against brown. "Please tell me."
Chris sighs, briefly considering whether he can try and prolong what appears to be the inevitable now, ultimately deciding he can't. "Okay, fine…I am Chris, and I am from the future, and I have come here to protect Wyatt but…I haven't been totally honest about that." He says slowly, hands clenched tightly around his mug. He inhales deeply, and keeps his eyes focused on his mug. "The truth is…my name is Chris Halliwell, and I'm…I'm Wyatt's little brother.". There, it's out, he's said it. This may change everything, but he hopes it doesn't. He doesn't want to to be the first to react though. Gosh, why does he feel so nervous?
There's silence between them. Chris is focussing so hard on his mug, but when he finally gets the courage to look back up she's got this big wide smirk on her face and glistening eyes, like she's the cat that got the canary.
"You're not…surprised?" He asks, and she shakes her head still smiling.
His jaw drops as he realises what this means.
"You…you…you knew?! How? Since when?" His voice has gone all high and squeaky.
"I spotted a few signs, I guess it was a bit of instinct, and a lot of thinking. As for when…I started working on a theory the first day we met you. I wasn't sure at first, convinced myself I might have been going crazy but… I was going to wait for you to say something first."
Chris pushes his chair back in a sharp move, gets to his feet, incredulous. "What….that…ugh…you knew, you knew the entire time, and you didn't say anything. That's not fair!"
There's a part of her that agrees, but there's also a part of her that wishes he'd felt he could tell her sooner, and that's the part that won out. "No Chris, what's not fair is that you weren't going to say anything, were you?"
And what's he supposed to say back to that? She's right, of course she's right, she's his mother, and he wasn't even going to say anything. But it's all so complicated. He plops back down deflated. She moves to sit next to him, instead of across from him.
"It's complicated." He states.
"Look, I know things have been hard for you, and I know you've not come back to us from a big happy family setting Chris but…"
"You worked that out too." He groans. If it weren't for the topic, she thinks that probably would have made her smile, but instead she files a mental note to her future self to watch out for the dramatics with this one. He can certainly be expressive when he wants to be - a bit of a family trait there really.
"When you first strolled into my bedroom, when I was a goddess." She tells him.
"Probably should have knocked, shouldn't I? What an idiot." He closes his eyes, rubs them and shakes his head slightly. How silly of him to have started messing up on the very first day.
"Hey…don't…" Piper starts, she's figured out a few things about him by now, and she thinks he's far from an idiot. Misguided at times maybe, but he is smart.
"You said in your future families barely exist, you never really got to know yours." He looks at her, sadness in his eyes before looking back down. Both of them know he can't say anymore about that, it wouldn't be fair to either of them. "I wasn't sure how much of that was true but the way you said 'not yet'." She pauses, wishing she could take away the pain in his eyes. "You don't have to tell me the details, you probably shouldn't but…you're here now. You've got all this family here…it would be a shame not to get to know them while you have the chance now, wouldn't it? And look, if you're worried about what it'll be like going back to somewhere…different, I get it. We felt that when we went back and saw mom. But I would do it all again."
He shifts in his seat, almost squirming. This is all going hugely off plan, and he's struggling to know what to do or think.
Sensing his discomfort, "We can do it your way. You choose how much or how little, but Chris, if you want to be, you are part of this family. Now, always." She runs her fingers through his hair.
He looks up at her, sees that she means it, and ugh, it just cracks his heart into a million pieces, and all he can manage is a small curve of the lips as he tries to stop his eyes from welling with tears. Sensing that he can't really talk, doesn't know to reply, she continues carefully.
"You can keep calling me Piper if that helps. I don't have any expectations, I just feel like you maybe…this might be good for you?" She raises an eyebrow at him, and he gives one single nod. It's weird and complicated, but when you've felt alone for so long, at such a young age, and the one person you could always count on is right there giving you a hand to grab onto…
"I think maybe we can teach each other some things. Give you some tips for future time travelling and how not to get clocked so quickly?" She jokes, nudging him, and he lets out a chuckle at that. She knows very little about his future and what happened to him, but she's worked out enough to know that he could benefit from a little guidance now and then, and hey, isn't this all he's ever wanted since he was 14?
"Yeah, okay." He inhales deeply then, "thanks Mom" he whispers, and casts a sideways glance at her. She's stunned, but in a good way, an odd smile on her face and eyes glowing.
"But you know…there's something kind of weird, almost annoying about having your mother read you so well when she's not even met you yet…"