A/N: This takes place mostly after Chriss-Crossed in S6, but with the beginning mid episode. On a rewatch I noticed the way that Leo said "Hang in there buddy" and then I started thinking about the moments that had taken place between Leo and Chris up until then. I find the character and storyline of Chris just so interesting so there's a few Chris reveal type ideas I've got going on at the moment.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, the characters just won't get out of my head.

Though Leo had been suspicious of Chris since he'd arrived, over time he'd come to accept him and even trust him. He'd still been trying to work out who Chris was, and he could tell there was definitely something Chris wasn't telling them. However, Leo had also come to realise that though Chris sometimes made some rash and misguided choices, he was doing his best to protect Wyatt, and also look out for the sisters. He'd even started growing some sort of fondness for him, which was part of why he'd felt so concerned finding out someone had been after Chris.

Leo looked down at the young man lying on the sofa in front of him, body often clenching and writhing in pain. Leo isn't used to not being able to heal people, he doesn't like it, and finds it frustrating. His face is set in quiet concern as he tries to help make Chris comfortable while the sisters are trying to track down the person that did this to him. Leo had been suspecting for a while that in the future Chris was closer to the sisters than he'd been letting on, but had yet worked out quite how or why.

As Chris' facial features twist into a painful expression, something starts clicking inside Leo's brain. Something about that expression is familiar, echoing glimpses of other faces he has helped heal countless times. Leo's eyes narrow and he focuses his gaze on Chris's face which is starting to smooth out slightly, though jaw still clenched tightly. The more he studies Chris' face, the more it starts to make sense. Leo had suspected that Chris wasn't being entirely truthful with them about who he was, but he hadn't expected this. The boy was a Halliwell, he was sure. Leo gently lays a hand on Chris' shoulder and his gaze softens as he tries to connect the dots between the events that occurred over the last few months, and also ponders over how the young man is looking much younger and more vulnerable than the act he usually puts on.

Chris had first inserted himself into their lives during the attack of the Titans, orbing into the attic and introducing himself as being from the future. And on Valhalla, despite the fact that white lighters can't die from a sword fight, he recalls the momentary look of panic, the beads of sweat. A whitelighter-witch from the future - of course he was a Halliwell. He thinks through other moments the two men had shared, and wondered how he'd missed something that should have been so obvious. Chris' hesitancy in taking on any other charges, a few frosty moments and goading jabs - was he defensive and reacting to Leo's suspiciousness, or was there something more? He considers the concern and protectiveness Chis has shown towards Piper in recent weeks, the way he agreed quicker than anything that it wasn't funny hearing Piper joke about almost getting killed. And then the way that Chris had been the day he followed him through the time portal. Tight-lipped, frosty, but then right when he wasn't expecting it, Chris has come back to help him and pull him into safety rather than feeding him to the dinosaur. There was only one thing that made sense, and it explained a lot.

"Hang in there, buddy."

Later that night, after Chris is healed, and safe, Leo knows he needs to talk to Piper. She'd demanded truth from Chris once he arrived back in the attic, but as ever Chris hadn't said much at all. Perhaps Leo could shed some light, and together they could try and come up with a plan.

"Piper? Can we talk?" Leo asks as he enters the kitchen finally finding Piper alone making herself a cup of tea.

"Of course." She says as she pours a second cup of tea and brings it to him at the table "Everything okay?" She asks taking in his concerned look and furrowed brow.

"I'm not sure." He looks down at his cup, then back to her warm brown eyes. Much like they have many times in the past, they convey a look that suggests he can trust her, she's ready and listening. "I don't..uhhh." The corners of his lips curl up with a hint of a smile and he tries again. "There's no easy way to say this, and it might sound kind of odd."

"Leo," she says softly and places her hands gently over his. "What's going on?"

"I've been thinking, trying to figure Chris out."

"Leo…" she says with just the softest hint of exasperation. "I know you've been all tense and suspicious but I don't think he's that bad." She pulls her hands back, but he grabs one of them before she gets too far.

"No, it's not that. I don't think he's bad either." He turns her hand over in his, and traces his thumb over her wrist and along the lines of her palm. "I think maybe…he's family."

Her dark eyes meet his pale ones, as her facial features twitch but don't settle on a clear emotion. "Family.". She doesn't shut him down, tell him he's crazy, or laugh at him. There's no witty quip like he half expected, but she's also not quick to say anything more.

"Yeah." He lets go of her hand, places his palms on the edge of the table, flexes his fingers while he gathers his thoughts. Piper studies him, watching that familiar look cross his face where he decides how to play his cards. Like he's trying to work out the right words to say so that she understands his points, but without overwhelming her or giving away more than he feels he should. He always has been careful about the way he approaches the exposition.

"It's taken me a while to see it. It was so weird the way he showed up right in the middle of the whole Titans fiasco, distracting I think. He keeps his cards close to his chest, understandably." He starts to begin.

"Can't change too much." Piper says, having herself experienced some magical time travel.

"Exactly." Leo nods. "He's on a mission, and he's determined. He keeps saying he's here to protect Wyatt, save him from evil. But he never seems to know much about who, or why, or when. And that's felt kind of weird, hasn't it?" He checks to make sure she's following and seeing that she is, and has at least some level of agreement, continues.

"It started with some small things, but the more I think about it. The more it adds up." He pauses agin.

"Want to elaborate on that?" She asks with a smile, eyes shining wide at him, and one eyebrow slightly raised, daring him to continue.

"Ah, there's the quip." He muses, and she scrunches her face at him then shakes her head at him.

"Well," she says teasingly, "You are very good at using a lot of words but not saying very much."

"I don't think I'm the only one." He says looking down at his cup again briefly. Piper resists the urge to tease him further, and instead raises a quizzical eyebrow when he meets her gaze again.

"Okay. Remember last week when you were joking about not having been killed and I said that wasn't funny, and he agreed very quickly. Almost too quickly."

"Yeah, and?"

"But your sisters didn't say anything."

"Is that all?"

"No, but it sort of…accelerated my thinking. Thinking back there's been a few signs. I had my suspicions he wasn't a full whitelighter back in Valhalla, but I didn't realise that meant anything. Maybe I should have. Mostly when I think back, there have probably been signs since the empath blocking potion."

"Leo, that was weeks ago!" Piper exclaims with wide eyes.

"Well I didn't know then, I only started putting it together later. A couple of weeks ago we had a sort of…exploration through some time portals, and I think some things shifted then. I'd said that if anything happens to one of us, the other has to get back for Wyatt's sake. I was practically ready to leave the kid high and dry." He admits, remembering how frustrated he was with Chris at the time. "He could have left me to the dinosaurs, but he didn't."

"DINOsaurs?!"

"We're fine. Things might have been frosty, but he didn't leave me to die, so that's got to count for something. There's glimmers of familiar personality traits, flickers of movements or expressions. Obviously he's very familiar with the Book, has history with future us and your sisters, and he's familiar with the house too. But when I was thinking about it more and more added up, and then after today I don't think there's any denying it. Do you remember how concerned he was after you took the empath blocking potion? And the way he agreed so fast when I said it wasn't funny that you'd joked about nearly getting killed. He's stubborn and protective, and I'm pretty sure he thinks he's hiding it, but it's not just about Wyatt. There were some jabs about family early on, Wyatt needing his 'Dad' which he's said with a really odd attitude, and he didn't react well when I said he wasn't part of the family after the potion."

"Is this what you were thinking so hard about in the attic this morning?" Piper says thinking back to just how concerned Leo had been, and how his forehead and brow had creased in concern and how quick he was to accuse Chris of not telling the truth, not to mention his reaction when Phoebe and Paige had rushed off, leaving Piper alone in the attic with him and how enthusiastic he seemed to be to find out who Bianca was.

"It was a factor, yeah. I was trying to work out who he is." He admits, and Piper's face remains neutral, but her eyes close for a moment. "And then later, when he was injured in the living room, and I couldn't heal him. I just…I felt something, and I just knew… You know…I uh called him buddy at one point there and he didn't flinch." He doesn't have to say more than that. Leo doesn't really have buddies, except his little blond haired buddy sleeping upstairs.

"You think he's our son" She calmly states.

"Wyatt's brother." He says at the same time. "Wait, you're not…you suspected too?"

Piper shrugs and smiles "I think maybe there's been some kind of familiarity I've sensed for a while, but I couldn't put my finger on what or why. It only really clicked today, but yeah…it would explain a lot."

"What made you realise?" He asks her, wondering how closely their theories had matched up.

"When we were at Bianca's - before they went through the portal." She winces slightly, knowing that he won't like what's coming next. "She had a knife to me…"

"She what?!" He says showing his concern and protective nature. Even if they're not really together, he can't help the way he feels. No matter their relationship status he has always cared about her safety and wellbeing.

"Relax, I'm fine. He said that if she killed me there wouldn't be a future for either of them to go back to. I tried to freeze them both, but neither of them froze because he's half white lighter, half witch. And then as he walked through the portal he looked right back at me. He didn't glance at Paige or Phoebe, but me."

"Quite the afternoon." Leo ponders.

"Understatement." Piper nods in agreement. "Did you hear that I suggested Phoebe and Paige move out?" Piper says, biting her lip and tugging on the ends of her grey sleeves.

"You're okay with that? With them leaving you alone?" He asks her, eyebrows raised, forehead creasing slightly.

"I won't be alone. I've got Wyatt, and a neurotic whitelighter-witch." She smiles slightly, looks at her hands, and then looks back up at him. The unspoken question of whether she had him lingering on the tip of her tongue.

"Big changes." He acknowledges, and they both nod. Piper's not exactly known for her love of change, but this shows a lot growth, and they both know that. He catches himself from asking her what that means for them. Instead he sits back and crosses his arms, like he's taking it all in.

"He does that." Piper smirks and raises her eyebrows.

"Oh, you want to talk shared traits?" He rests his elbows on the table and leans towards her. She leans towards him slightly, narrows her eyes and scrunches her nose, solidly meeting his gaze with a daring glint. Maybe it doesn't matter quite how things are between them, blurred and messy, frequently changing and flexing. They might be a little off track, but surely their shared revelations and the very fact that Chris is clearly a mix of the two of them is a sign that destiny has greater plans.

"Do you think we should tell him we've figured him out?" Piper asks. Part of her has a lot of questions for him, though he probably can't, or won't answer them, but she also finds a desire to find out things like his favourite foods, favourite colours, and to understand what makes him 'him'.

Leo purses his lips. "I'm not sure." They sit in silence for a couple of minutes before he continues. "It's not that part of me doesn't want to, but I'm not sure that we should. He's come back here for a reason, and I think maybe we need to let that play out. If there is this looming threat for Wyatt…I don't know if we can afford to be selfish about distracting Chris from his mission." He rubs the back of his neck, deep in thought. "Maybe we have to see if he comes to us, if somehow he brings it up."

"It won't be easy," Piper thinks out loud.

"No, but maybe we can find other ways to get close to him, or at least watch out for him." Piper's always appreciated Leo's protective nature for those he cares about. even outside of his Whitelighter duties, but it's another level when he's talking about his child…children. She'd be lying if she didn't admit to herself that hearing him talk in this protective, fatherly way wasn't tugging on her heartstrings.

"I think he's had a very tough day. His injury, getting sucked back into a future he doesn't quite belong in, losing Bianca…" And though she doesn't really know him as a son, she had grown to like him, but knowing now that he was her son, her heart overflowed with empathy for him, and a want to try and make things better, even though she knew she couldn't fix all his problems.

"I can head to P3, check in on him?" Leo offers.

Piper considers that, understands Leo's suggestion, but can't help but feel that maybe that's not quite the right approach. "I think he me might need some space. He probably needs some time to work through his thoughts and feelings. If he's not ready to tell us who he is…I don't want to complicate things for him. Maybe tomorrow? We can offer him some kind of support, or a space to talk…if he wants that. But if he doesn't want that, we're going to have to respect that."

Leo nods. "Okay, tomorrow."