Thanks for the reviews everyone who did. I never understood why people always asked for reviews and I was scared to open my first, but you guys are fantastic, and I totally get why people pester for reviews. For the record, I am not pestering, but if you have any thoughts or guesses about what is coming up I would love to hear them.
Piper turned to Chris as the teenager shimmered out. "A demon?! You are friends with a demon? And you expect us to trust you with Wyatt?" She glanced over to see what Leo thought, to see the man red in the face and glaring daggers at the witch lighter. Paige chimed in a little more hesitant, "Chris, you gotta admit saying you 'love' a demon doesn't exactly inspire confidence. That never turns out well." The young man's eyes looked tired as he responded, "Did you ignore everything you just saw besides the shimmer? What part of we both tried to warn you Wyatt was turning evil, is evil? She is a 15 year old girl and I'm all of 11 years old baking cookies; that screams evil to me." "Don't take that tone with us! A demon is a demon no matter the age. If you two knew Wyatt, then it was only to corrupt him," shouted Leo. "That's not what you said about the Manticore baby!" argued Chris.
Leo and Piper continued yelling with Paige waffling on which side to take; Phoebe was suspiciously silent leading Paige to prompt her. "Phoebes, what do you think?" She continued staring at the place the teen had just occupied, "Chris, whose house is this?" That brought them all up short; it was obvious they had only been thinking about the surface issues. Chris sighed, "It's yours." "So if she is here, it's because I let her be, right?" Chris just nodded. "Why do I have a demon in my house?" "She is a half-breed." Paige chimed in, "So was Cole, that doesn't mean anything. Answer the question Chris."
They waited impatiently while he mulled over what to say. Just as Piper met her breaking point, he finally spoke. "When Chloe was little she had a string of bad foster homes and ended up living on the streets. She was 8 at the time. You were tracking a warlock who was selling children into slavery. You intercepted him trying to take Chloe. From what I understand she didn't take to you, Piper, or you, Paige; but she clung to Phoebe like a life raft. The only time she would let go of you was if she was with Wyatt; and he took to her just as quickly. You didn't know she was magical until two weeks later when a demon attacked and Chloe protected Phoebe while she was unconscious. By that time she was already integrated into your life, Phoebe, and you refused to give her up; Wyatt wouldn't let you either. So she stayed. And never compare her to Cole; her human half is much stronger than Cole's ever was."
"So I adopted her?" asked Phoebe. "Not exactly… but you fill out all her parent/guardian pages for school." Piper looked at her sister, "What is it with you and loving demons." Chris, Paige and Phoebe all winced at her accusation. "If I am letting her live with me she must not be evil. I wouldn't risk Wyatt like that." Paige gave her a sheepish look, "Well you married Cole…" That pushed Phoebe to finally yell, "This is not about Cole! This is about an 8 year old girl who needed a safe home and who has apparently grown into a caring young woman." "Caring?" Leo mocked. "Did you see her? Her tattoos, her music, her clothes; they all practically shout evil. I bet she turned Wyatt evil to use him to build some sort of army and you," he said turning to Chris. "I bet you are here doing her bidding for the power and 'cause she's a good lay."
The Elder never saw the fist that impacted his face. "Don't you ever talk about Chloe like that, again. And as for sleeping with her, that's disturbing Leo. She was the big sister/protective parent I never had." Leo got up from the ground in a rage, but Phoebe quickly stepped between them. "Okay guys, let's just calm down. Maybe we should take a look around and see what else is going on." "No," disagreed Chris, causing his aunt to shoot him a glare. "No, we should be finding a way back. While we are here who knows what's going on back in the past? And there is no one there if Victor needs help protecting Wyatt." This caused them to all pause for a moment before Piper imperiously decided, "Nope, we are here now, mister, and we are going to learn all we can. If something goes wrong Wyatt will use his shield and orb him and Dad to safety. Besides we can be back at the same time we left, it is time travel after all."
Piper marched out of the living room and the rest followed her; Chris's head was hung low, Phoebe was trying to soak in all the details of her home, Paige looked optimistic and Leo looked suspicious. They found themselves in a dining room with take-out Chinese boxes piled around. Three girls about ages 9, 7 and 5 sat at the table already eating; the oldest one looks to be the same girl that ran through Paige earlier. Older Phoebe and the man they saw yelling at Chloe walk in carrying drinks for themselves and the girls. They sit around the table and begin eating.
Older Phoebe starts asking the girls about their day, "Phoenix, how was your play date?" The oldest girl rolls her eyes, "Mom, it isn't called a play date anymore. We just hung-out." "Well how was hanging out?" the man prods. "It was good we watched that new movie I wanted to see and her mom made us root beer floats." "You aren't too old for root beer floats then?" "Dad, Wyatt says you can never be too old for root beer floats." "Well then it must be true," her father affirms. The littlest one pipes up, "Mom, can we have floats too?" "Maybe after dinner, Prue; we have to see how much of your dinner you eat. How about you, Peyton, how was your day?" "It was good. We had little league after school. Susan fell and hurt her knee, but she's fine now."
The table fell silent as they tucked into their meals. When the man went to reach for one of the boxes for seconds, Phoenix picked it up and held it out of his grasp. "Mom, where is Chloe? She didn't get any Mongolian beef and it's her favorite." "Chloe texted me saying that she is working on a project at a friend's house, but to leave her an egg roll." The girl passed the carton to her father who had a sour look on his face even as he grabbed the last egg roll. The plates were soon cleared and the group dispersed; the girls to the backyard, their father to the couch and Phoebe to the sink.
Younger Phoebe turned to Chris, "Who is he?" "He is your husband, Coop." "My husband who abuses young women and girls?" Chris sighed, "Yes and no. Coop has never once struck or abused you or the girls in any manner, just Chloe. I don't know if he ever would, but if he ever did he would be dead. That's not an exaggeration. Chloe told him if he ever laid a hand on you or the girls or mentally or verbally abused you all, she would torture him to death." "And I'm okay with that?" "You don't know it's going on. The only people who know are Wyatt and me; and she didn't even tell us; we had to do some digging." Paige jumped in, "Wait did you just say torture him to death? Cause that sounds pretty evil demon like to me." Surprisingly it was Piper who answered her, "What would you be willing to do if someone hurt Phoebe or her innocent children? I could kill and I don't think it's too far of a stretch to say I could hurt them beforehand." "Why doesn't she tell me?" asked Phoebe. Chris didn't answer.
The silence became agonizingly awkward. Paige tried to break the air, "So, how about we go find Wyatt?" She orbed away before anyone could disagree with her. "I hate it when she does that," muttered Piper who grabbed Leo's arm. He orbed them after Paige leaving Phoebe and Chris alone.
"How are you doing, Chris?" "I'm…I'm fine… it's just hard being back here. I have replayed so many of these days over and over to figure out what could have been done differently." "And what did you decide?" "No change had a good outcome. Even now, saving Wyatt I don't know what that will mean for Chloe…for me. I am worried about future consequences; it isn't just something I spout off. How will you react when you finally meet Chloe? Coop? Hell, anybody you see here do something you disagree with?" "We will save Wyatt, Chris." "But what if in doing so, we condemn Chloe?" "Well, then at least we saved the good guy and our family. No answer is perfect." Something flickered in Chris's eyes at her response, but it was too fleeting to catch. "We better go before they get themselves in trouble," Phoebe took his arm and they orbed away.
They arrived in the manor dining room where a 13 year old Wyatt sat hunched over his homework. "I don't get it!" he finally exclaimed with a sigh. Young Chris was suddenly at the doorway peaking in, "What don't you get Wy?" "How can you add negative numbers? That doesn't make sense." Chis climbed into the chair next to him and read over his shoulder. "Oh, I know. Think about it like this: a negative number is like an ice cube and a positive number is like hot water. So when the potion is too hot or too big a number you add ice." Wyatt's face lit up with understanding and he did his last few problems. "You know Chris, you're pretty smart sometimes." "Just sometimes?" Chris asked cheekily. Wyatt rolled his eyes and walked off into the living room.
Chris followed him and the voyeurs trailed after. The boys soon began arguing over which TV show to watch and they ended up on the ground fighting over the remote. A disembodied voice belonging to older Piper called out of the kitchen, "Boys enough. Christopher give Wyatt the remote." Chris pouted on the couch, "I never get to choose… Wyatt we can't watch this." The blonde haired boy had turned on a history channel show about gangs. Wyatt kicked Chris off the couch and muttered, "what Mom doesn't know won't hurt her." Chris got up and ambled off.
Wyatt sat quietly and watched his show, taking notes on a sheet of paper. Paige stood behind him and read over his shoulder, "looks like he is taking notes on gang structure." Chris actually volunteered information for once, "When Wyatt first started gathering followers they were organized more like a gang. That changed when his first group was nearly obliterated by a demon army. Now his supporters are an army, with some mercenaries thrown in."
Eventually Wyatt got up and headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Chris started following him, so the rest trailed along. Wyatt headed to the shower while the rest went to Wyatt's bedroom. It was a standard boy's room with posters of cars and women in bikinis on the walls, there were dirty clothes on the floor and his messy twin bed sat against the far wall. Wyatt walked in freshly showered in a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He pulled back the covers on his bed and that's when the sister's and Leo realized the lump they thought was dirty clothes and blankets was actually a person. They walked around so they could get a better look at the figure lying on its side. It was Chloe looking battered and bruised, her face slightly bloody and clothes torn a mess.
When Wyatt saw her he went back to his dresser and pulled out another set of boxers and shirt. He shook her shoulder until she could groggily sit up on her own. Without hesitation he removed her converse, jeans and underwear, helping her slide into his boxers. He then stripped her tank and bra, helping her pull on the oversized t-shirt. The boy folded her clothes and set them on his dresser before helping her lay back curled on her side. He slid in behind her and spooned her battered body, pulling her close when she whimpered and letting her snuggle up to him. For a few minutes he observed her and spoke softly in her ear, putting her in a calm state of sleep. Only when he was satisfied she was okay, did he let himself drift off.
A little bit of background on Chloe, but it was given by Chris, so who knows what he left out? Hint: I do.
If it seems that Paige, Piper and Leo should figure out who Chris is from whose houses he is in and how they relate; they probably should. But I also felt they were really dense this season.