AN: So I think there may have been a glitch when I uploaded Chapter 8 because I posted it back in March but the update date on the story doesn't reflect that... SO if you haven't read Chapter 8 please go back and read it before you charge on ahead with this chapter!

As always, not my universe, characters etc.

Happy Reading...

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He was just sitting there, staring at the floor. The air around him felt like molasses, voices sounded like a confused din of ocean waves. How long had he been staring at the floor? He didn't even startle when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He could barely make out his grandfather's voice, "Come on, Chris, it's time." He didn't think he could even stand, the weight of loss felt like lead in his body. He could feel his grandfather nudging him up, but he didn't want to move, he couldn't move. Victor gently helped him stand, he tried to avert his eyes, tried not to see the front of the cold chapel, tried not to see his father's red-rimmed eyes, his brother's hollow stare or his sister's tear-streaked face.

Chris shook his head, leaning against the shower tiles, trying to sort through the strange thoughts and feelings swirling through him. He couldn't remember ever being in that white chapel, this seemed like a memory, but it wasn't his, was it? He closed his eyes, regulating his breath as the hot water streamed over his face. Mom, he thought suddenly. No. That couldn't have been a premonition, not only was that not his power, but Wyatt couldn't have been more than sixteen. Maybe I am losing it, he thought wryly.

He took a couple more Excedrin when he got out of the shower, his head had been killing him all day and he thought he must have pulled a muscle during that stand-off with Devren, he couldn't shake the aching pain in his abdomen. Devren… the confrontation with the darklighter had him worried. The last few months he'd been able to come up with various plausible explanations for the strange dreams: working too much, family stresses, anxiety over the relics… but he couldn't come up with an explanation for how an actual darklighter came to feature so prominently in so many of the dreams.

Bianca was right, she had given him an earful after the disaster in the Underworld. Something was off, Bianca sensed it, Wyatt sensed it, they all sensed it. Bianca said it felt as if the air was thinning, Wyatt said everything felt electrified the way the world does just before a storm. Chris couldn't quite put language to it though, it felt like the moment just after the first ball in a Newton's cradle is released, when the energy is moving through the stationary balls, everything is still but you know the last ball is about to arc upward. For every action…He laughed out loud at himself realizing he was starting to recite physics laws in his head, then stopped, If the last ball is about to move, what started the first ball's movement? he thought.

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"Piper, it's fine," Leo said calmly, resting his hands on his wife's shoulders as she nervously rearranged the dinner table again. Piper stopped and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and turning into Leo's embrace. "We're as prepared for whatever may happen as we can be," he continued as he held her close.

Just then Wyatt and Bianca came through the front door, laughing and holding empty coffee cups.

"Where's your brother?" Piper demanded, still on edge despite Leo's calming presence.

"We left him at the apartment to grab some coffee on our way over," Wyatt responded, sharing a look with his dad. Leo simply shook his head, keeping his arm around Piper. "I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

"Oh, hey, Bianca!" Melinda started, coming down the stairs. "Can I borrow that blue skirt of yours? I've finally got a second date with Matt tomorrow…" She trailed off, looking around the room, "Uh, where's Mr. Punctual?"

As if on cue, a swirl of white lights appeared in the dining room, "Sorry, sorry, I know I'm late," Chris said, looking exhausted.

It had taken more energy than it should have for him to get himself out of his apartment after the encounter with Devren and the flood of more strange images through his mind. The Excedrin wasn't particularly helping his headache either and the pain in his abdomen seemed to be getting worse by the minute. Piper frowned, noticing the dark circles under his eyes. She looked at her son with concern and realized suddenly just how much he looked like his old self- the Chris she met over twenty years ago. Cursing at herself for never noticing just how much the burden he had carried back then had worn on him, never fully realizing just how battle-hardened he had been, what kind of mother… she thought as she stormed across the room and pulled her son into a tight embrace.

Chris stiffened a bit, startled by his mother's response, then winced as her intense hug put pressure on his sore muscles. Piper pulled away, alarmed, her sharp eyes examining him. "You're hurt," she said with an edge to her voice.

Chris looked at her, rubbing the soft spot just below his ribs where the aching was the worst. "Just a pulled muscle is all," he sighed. "Nothing to worry about, Mom, really."

Piper looked back at Leo, her hands still gripping Chris's arms, barely able to contain her panic. Leo frowned, taking a deep breath, "Piper, he'll be fine, fine. Let's get some food in these kids and quit worrying."

Wyatt shared a concerned look with Melinda, they both noted the flicker of worry on their dad's face. What were their parents keeping from them this time? Wyatt had to take a few seconds to try and quell his annoyance, were their parents ever going to trust them all to handle things? Dear god, he was nearly the same age as his mom was when she started battling demons on her own and without any training. Melinda could tell from the set of Wyatt's jaw where his thoughts were leading, this was not the time for an argument, couldn't everyone just stop being neurotic long enough to have a pleasant birthday dinner for Chris? She gently put her hand on Wyatt's back, tapping into some of her whitelighter calming to help soothe his annoyance. He knew what she was doing and let her, letting out a long breath as they followed everyone into the dining room. Thankfully, their dad was already pouring out some healthy glasses of wine for everyone.

The wine fortunately seemed to be helping Chris's headache and he could feel some of his worry lifting as he sat with his family, eating his favorite meal, joking around and sharing old stories.

"…and then Aunt Paige found you and Tam trying to hide the potion in the school's janitor closet," Wyatt laughed, along with the rest of the table, as he finished up the story. Chris laughed with everyone else, but then looked confused.

"Wait, no… that was the time you tried to convince Tam to test that stupid potion on Bobby Tomlinson, remember?" Chris said, thoughtful.

"What?!" Wyatt exclaimed. "No way! Why the hell would I have tried to get Tam to throw a wart potion on Bobby? That poor kid had enough issues- remember? He'd always blow up potions and end up covered in shi—stuff in class all the time!"

Chris shook his head, still looking confused. He started to stand up to carry his dessert plate into the kitchen, but as he did, everything swum in and out of focus. He steadied himself, then laughed nervously, saying, "I guess I had more wine than I thought," while absently rubbing the sore spot just below his chest.

Wyatt laughed loudly, "Oh no you don't little brother, we still got a full night of drinking ahead of us!"

Chris groaned, honestly he really didn't feel like enduring an entire evening of bar hopping with their friends, but he knew he couldn't get out of it without stirring up more anxiety with his parents.

Bianca playfully punched Wyatt, "Give him a break Wy. It's been a stressful few weeks, you know."

"Exactly!" Wyatt said, smiling. "That's exactly why we are going out and getting hammered to celebrate my little brother turning the big two-three."

Bianca rolled her eyes as Piper walked back in the room, clearing dishes. "Getting hammered, huh boys?" She asked, trying to laugh. She eyed Chris warily, "Hun, you sure you're up for letting Wyatt drag you all over town tonight?"

She wanted to step in and forbid him from leaving her sight, but he wasn't a child anymore, as Leo had just finished reminding her in the kitchen. He was right, of course, damned whitelighter-turned-elder-turned-avatar-turned-mortal. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was just after nine. Three hours, she thought, three hours and then this day will be over, maybe, just maybe we'll pull through this after all. Looking back at Chris, she held in a sigh, she had to let him go, had to trust that it would be alright. She knew exactly how strong the young man before her was, knew he could face whatever the last few hours of this particular birthday would throw at them.

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Trina breathed deeply, standing on Nomed's balcony in the cool evening air. It was happening, she closed her eyes, letting the wind toss her hair wildly as she stretched out her arms reveling in her knowledge of the coming chaos. Nomed slipped outside, casually carrying a tumbler of scotch.

"Can you feel it Nomed?" Trina asked, her voice more sensual than he'd ever heard. He could, he could feel it, could feel the air thick and crisp with power. It was starting.

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"Well…?" Piper turned from washing dishes as Paige orbed into the kitchen with Phoebe in-tow. "Well woman?" Paige asked again after she fully materialized.

Piper dried her hands on a towel, sighing and leaning against the counter. "Well…" she started, drawing the word out. "Well, nothing yet."

"Nothing?" Phoebe asked, sitting down on one of the stools at the island. "So, maybe nothing will happen? Maybe we all just got worked up over nothing?"

Piper snorted in disbelief, "Yeah right."

"Yeah," Phoebe admitted, her hand unconsciously massaging her neck, remembering the consequences of her past life, the day those consequences caught up to her.

"Almost that time though…" Paige said, worrying her lip, looking at the clock.

Piper began prepping to make tea, the three sisters sitting in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Do you guys feel it?" Phoebe asked, breaking the silence. Her sisters both looked at her sharply, still lost in thought. "Everything feels thin, electric…" she trailed off, looking out at the black sky.

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"Alright, alright, next round on me," Jude said as he passed out beers. Chris grabbed one, glancing over just as Wyatt cracked a private joke with Bianca. A sudden pang of jealously flowed through Chris, making him confused. He shook his head and drank down some of his beer, but just as he quelled the odd feelings an intense, burning pain ripped through him. He dropped his beer and doubled over in pain, all of his friends eyes worriedly looking at him.

"Chris, Chris, what's wrong?" Wyatt anxiously demanded.

Taking a steadying breath, Chris gritted his teeth, "It's ok, it's ok Wy." He tried straightening back up, a grimace of pain on his face. "It's just… fuck," he gasped, lifting his hands that were smeared in the blood pouring from a fresh wound. He looked at his hands then up at Wyatt, as another wave of burning pain shot through him.

"Holy shit," Wyatt exclaimed, jumping over the table to get to Chris's side as their friends closed ranks around them to prevent any prying eyes from seeing what was happening. Wyatt held his hands out over what appeared to be a stab wound, "I got you Chris, I got you."

"What's taking so long Wy?" Bianca asked, glancing around the bar patio, her tracking senses on high alert.

"I, I don't know…" Wyatt looked up at everyone. "It's not, I can't… I don't know. We need to get him back to the Manor, now."

"Ok," Jude nodded, "let's get you guys to the alley."

Bianca stepped around, taking off her jacket and giving it to Chris to shield the blood from view. "C'mon, Chris, just pretend you're drunk." She and Wyatt helped Chris stand up and slowly made their way off the patio. Wyatt looked back, worried.

"Go!" Carrie said, "Go- we've got damage control handled here." Wyatt nodded, letting Bianca guide him and his brother around a fence where he could orb them all to the Manor.

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Piper and her sisters heard a loud crash from the living room and came running in to see Wyatt and Bianca crash to the floor, carrying a badly hurt Chris.

"Brody!" Wyatt yelled. "Brody get your whitelighter ass down here!"

Brody materialized in less than a second, while Piper was still trying to assess what was happening.

"Heal him, now!" Wyatt yelled.

"It won't work," Piper said, Brody looked up at her, trying to heal Chris. Wyatt snapped his head around, looking at his mother in disbelief. "Paige, get the potions," she said without taking her eyes off her sons. "Wyatt, Brody, get him upstairs." They orbed up to the guest room, laying Chris out on the bed, his eyes fluttering as he moaned.

"Stop him, Dad… save us both," Chris mumbled.

Leo and Melinda came jogging down the hallway, just as Piper and her sisters orbed into the room, several potion bottles in-hand. Bianca hung back in the doorway, feeling like an intruder in a family crisis.

Piper headed to the bed and began coaxing Chris to drink the potion she had in her hand, while everyone anxiously watched.

"I don't understand," Wyatt said quietly.

Leo put his arm around his oldest son, "We think it's a poison created by Elder magic."

Wyatt just took a slow breath, trying to process what his dad just said. He crossed his arms and watched as Chris tried to swallow the liquid his mother was giving him.

Piper hung her head, "It's not working," she said tersely.

"It's got to work," Paige mumbled.

"Maybe, maybe we need to get it directly into his bloodstream," Phoebe offered, looking eagerly around, but Piper just shook her head, watching as Chris convulsed in pain.

Bianca jumped into action, apportating a syringe from the room she'd been using at the Manor. "Here," she said, pushing her way into the room and to Chris's side. Paige handed her one of the potion bottles she was holding and the entire room watched in anxious silence as the Phoenix expertly filled the syringe and pressed the needle into Chris's arm. Piper let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding as she saw the color start to come back to Chris's face and he took a shaky breath.

"Kyle, Wyatt, try it now, both of you," she ordered.

Wyatt and Brody jumped, both putting out their hands over Chris's wound and letting the healing flow through them for what seemed like an eternity. Brody started to strain, and Paige added her own power to the group. Finally, with the combined healing power of the two witchlighters and whitelighter, the wound began to heal. Once completely healed, Paige, Wyatt and Brody fell back, exhausted by the effort and amount of power it had taken. Chris lay deathly still and then suddenly gasped for air, sitting up and looking wildly around the room, his vision swimming in and out of focus until he saw his mother, sitting next to him on the bed with tears in her eyes.

"You did it Chris," she smiled at the version of her son she hadn't seen in twenty-three years. "You did it sweetie, you changed everything."