Chapter 20

The 3 sisters and the girl who they figured was M arrived back in the attic to see Leo sitting up in the cage. "Hi honey." Piper says taking a threatening step towards Leo, "Now are you going to cooperate and heal her or are you going to let her die like you did Chris." Piper's voice is deathly calm.

"Why am I in a cage? Where did that girl come from? What do you mean I let Chris die? He was evil." Leo asks his voice rising with each question.

"This is exactly what he did when I asked him to heal Chris." Paige says her voice stiff with anger.

"Is it now?" Piper says freezing Leo. "Well it's about time he learns his lesson." Piper knocks a crystal aside, releasing Leo, who is still frozen. Piper unfreezes Leo and says, "Honey you need to learn something. When any of us asks you to heal someone you do it then and ask questions later. Understand?"

"Yes, but..." Leo's protest is cut off by Piper blowing him up repeatedly.

"You were saying?" Piper retorts after she lets Leo reform fully.

"Nothing." Leo answers in defeat.

"That's better. Now heal her." Piper says and points at the girl, still propped up between Paige and Phoebe.

Leo begins healing her and opens his mouth to say something but seeing Piper's hands raise in a familiar position he closes it. He finishes healing her and immediately gets blown up.

"Now you're going to orb that pompous elder butt of yours back Up There and tell them what you've done. Don't even think about coming back down unless you hear anyone calling you. I don't care who it is healing first, questions later. Now go." Piper says and Leo gets blown up and out of the Manor.

Paige and Phoebe lay the girl on Great, Great, (nobody knows how many) Great Aunt Pearl's couch as she comes to. Paige walks back over to Chris's still form and pets his head, "Chris, wake up sweetie come on we need you here." Paige's voice grows thick with tears as she continues to try in vain to wake Chris up, "Chris can you hear me? Please wake up. It was all a bad dream. Please sweetie. Wake up for Auntie Paige. Chris..." Paige lets out a sob, and turns to face her remaining family, "I can't wake him up. He's really gone."

"How did I get here? Chris where are you?" A panicky voice comes from the direction of the couch.

"Hey, you're ok. My name's Piper, you were here earlier remember." Piper says walking over to the couch and sitting down.

"Where's Chris? I sent him here with my potion. He got shot by a darklighter arrow."The girl says panicked, "I have to see him."

"It's ok. You can see Chris later. What's your name?" Phoebe asks coming over.

"My name's Melanie."

"Question? You were a boy when you crash landed in our attic, after that you looked like Chris and after we got you out of that cage you're a girl." Paige says, looking up from Chris's body.

"Oh, that. It was a glamor. I'm part witch, part..." Melanie stops abruptly.

"Part witch, part what? Whitelighter?" Paige asks, confused at the sudden stop in speech.

"I can't tell you. Future C..."

"Don't finish that!" Piper says.

"How do you know that I was about to say.."

"Future Consequences." The three sisters say in unison.

"Yeah, we know. Chris has driven us insane with that phrase." Paige says ryly.

"He's been here 6 months and we just found out he's a witchlighter." Piper says, "You can tell us."

"Fine, but if Chris asks you forced me to. I'm half witch, half Avatar, but I don't have any Avatar abilities. Don't ask what an Avatar is." Melanie says and mutters, "Chris is going to kill me."

"Why are you here? And why did you faint upon seeing Chris?" Phoebe asks gently.

"I'm here because Lord... wait a second. Has Chris told you why he's here? Not that I'll tell you if he hasn't."

"He says he came here to protect Wyatt from a demon who will come after him." Piper answers.

"Okay. Anyway I'm here because the evil dictator in the future told us that he used Bianca to bring Chris back and kill him himself. He sent us a video, but it cut off right before the energy ball was thrown, so The Resistance sent me to confirm or deny his death. That's also why I fainted, I truly believed him to be dead. Now let me see Chris, please."

"Oh, that explains it. He's over by Paige." Phoebe says, and Piper wacks her arm.

Melanie gets up and walks over to Paige, upon seeing Chris's motionless bloodstained body she falls to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, clutching Chris's cold hand, his head in her lap, his beautiful emerald eyes no longer sparkling, staring into the nothingness of death. "Oh Chris. Why? Why did you leave me here all alone? I need you Chris." Melanie strokes Chris's hair, stiff with blood, her head bent in mourning.

"It's okay, we'll take care of you and we'll believe everything you say." Phoebe chokes out between sobs. Melanie's emotions threatening to overwhelm her.

Piper gets up from the couch and walks over to the altar in the attic where they cast spells and made some potions. Piper walks over and crouches besides Melanie, she eases her now blood stained hand out from under her son's head and presses a bottle in her hand. "This is an empath blocking potion that Chris got for us a little after Phoebe got her empathy power. I saved some, just in case. You should take it so Phoebe here can function again."

Melanie takes the potion and then lays down next to Chris's body, crying softly, his head still in her lap. "Go! Leave me alone now!" She shouts, her voice raw from crying. Phoebe puts a pillow by Melanie's head and pulls Paige to her feet.

Piper places a folded up blanket on the ground next to her, "Let me know if you need anything." Piper exits the attic, closing the door behind her.

WHOOSH

Melanie sits up in surprise, her arm raised in a familiar position. "Who's there?"

Three floating green heads drift towards Melanie and form into 2 males in black cloaks and 1 female, also in a black cloak. The first of the men has short salt and pepper hair, the beginning of a beard and dull green eyes. The second has dark features and the female has dark eyes and long brown hair.

"I am Alpha, I am an Avatar." The first Avatar says, "This is Gamma and Beta." He says motioning in turn to the second male and the female.

"What do you want?" Melanie had heard of the Avatars in the future, after all she was part Avatar.

"This was not Chris's time to die, but yet he is dead." Beta says, her voice piercing as a knife.

"We have come to help you save the future. We have come to give you some of your Avatar powers." Alpha says.

"Excuse me?"