A/N: In response to a couple reviews: Lucifer has a plan (as has been alluded to in the past two chapters) which is currently secret, and because of that, I can't really write anything from his POV without giving things away. So although I do have plans to include his POV at least once, it will be much later in the story. Also, there are still a few chapters until the Charmed Ones and Leo figure out who Chris is (I don't want to say how many, though, because that would give away too much of the plot).
Chapter Five: My Soul to Keep
Chris rubbed his eyes and watched as Piper poured the last drop of potion into a small vial and set it down on the counter next to the several other potions she had already made. Phoebe was sitting at the kitchen table with a pad of paper and a pencil, composing a spell that would bind Gideon's powers long enough for them to vanquish him. Paige and Leo were talking in hushed whispers near the door, discussing the plan of attack.
Chris felt useless.
He was tired. They were all tired. They needed to get some sleep, needed to refresh themselves, because taking on an Elder – particularly one as strong as Gideon – was not something anyone should do while exhausted. But no one seemed willing to take even a few minutes to think of anything except getting rid of the threat, and sleep was not a luxury they could afford.
Time was not a luxury they could afford.
Chris couldn't really blame them; he felt the same way. But he was also worried that they were rushing into this, that there were bits and pieces that still didn't quite align properly, and it was never a good idea to do something so drastic unless they were sure they'd worked out all the important details.
Of course, some little voice in the back of his mind insisted on reminding him that his reluctance could be do to the fact that this rush to vanquish Gideon meant his time was almost up. When Gideon died, Lucifer would come for his soul. He had no plans to thwart that particular ending. No matter how many times he tried to come up with something that would allow him to keep his soul and still save Wyatt...
It was useless.
But hadn't he known that all along?
"Done," Piper said.
"I'm almost done with the spell," Phoebe added, not looking up from her writing. "I've modified the one we used on the Source. It should work."
Should. It should work. But should wasn't good enough, not really. Not with Wyatt's safety on the line.
Chris rubbed his eyes again and bit back a yawn. "So what is our plan?" he asked.
Piper snorted. "Find Gideon. Vanquish Gideon," she said flatly.
"It won't be that easy," Chris cautioned, throwing her a slightly worried look. Piper was rarely one to take such dangerous risks without a fully formed plan. The fact that she seemed far more interested in finding Gideon than in actually figuring out how they would survive the encounter troubled the young white-lighter quite a bit.
"He'll be in Magic School," Leo said. "There will be students – children – around."
"Magic School?" Paige questioned, eyebrows raised.
"Think Hogwarts, only less British and you don't have to take a train to get there," Chris supplied. He chewed his lip and looked at Leo thoughtfully. He hadn't considered the possibility that there would be children around, hadn't factored that into the equation. How could he have ignored such vital information? How could he have allowed this plan to become almost fully formed without once considering the possibility that there would be collateral damage in the form of children?
Or would there? Given what Lucifer had told him about the deluded Elder, the more Chris thought about it, the more it seemed unlikely that Gideon would willingly let the students come to harm.
"There is a school for magical children?" Piper asked in surprise, turning towards Leo. "Why didn't you ever tell me this? I could have thought about it for Wyatt."
"He's not even one yet," Leo answered. "I figured that we would wait until he was older before discussing that." He cleared his throat awkwardly and averted his gaze, and though he didn't say it aloud, it was clear to everyone in the room that he was also thinking that he hadn't expected he and Piper would be divorced.
Chris didn't want to think about his parents' divorce. He didn't want to think about the fact that Piper blamed him for it, just like Leo had in the beginning.
Didn't want to think about the fact that they were both right - he was to blame.
"I don't think Gideon will risk the children getting hurt," he said finally, breaking the tense silence that had fallen between the eldest witch and the Elder.
Piper gave him an incredulous look. "Why? Because he cares about them?" she demanded sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the notion that Gideon could care about anything.
"Yes," Chris said simply. Four sets of eyes focused on him, and he said with a heavy sigh, "He's not evil. At least, not the way you're used to thinking about it. He's going after Wyatt because he thinks Wyatt has too much power and he's deluded himself into believing that killing Wyatt is the best way to protect the rest of the world. Including the students." He ran a hand through his hair and met Piper's hard gaze without flinching as he added, "He'll do what he can to protect the students. I don't think he'll grieve too much over any collateral damage, but he certainly won't want them to get hurt."
"Lucifer told you that?" Piper sneered. "Told you that Gideon isn't evil?"
"He can't lie, Piper," Chris said quietly but with a defiant edge to his voice. It was easier to be angry at her than to be sympathetic to her worry and pain. It was easier, because if he let himself care, if he let down the barriers that he had to keep in place around her, it would be all too easy to stop thinking of her as Piper and start thinking of her as Mom.
"So what do we do?" Paige asked. "If we give Gideon time to get the students out of the way, he'll run. If we surprise attack him, the students could get hurt."
"Surprise attack," Chris said immediately. "He's an Elder. You're going to need the element of surprise. Besides, Magic School is Gideon's home. Who knows what kinds of advantages he'll have there? Surprise might be the only advantage you get."
"Leo's an Elder, too," Phoebe pointed out.
"I've been an Elder for a few months," Leo replied. "Gideon's been an Elder for a few centuries. I'm not in the same league as he is." He paused, eyes flicking to Piper before he continued, "Besides, someone needs to stay here to protect Wyatt. In case Gideon escapes and comes after him now."
Piper nodded slowly. "You and Chris should stay," she agreed. Turning to Phoebe, she asked, "How close do we need to be to say the binding spell?"
"We're going to need to be in the same room as him," Phoebe replied with a frown, obviously displeased with the answer. "We're binding an Elder's powers, it needs to be close range."
"What is to stop him from orbing out halfway through the spell?" Paige asked.
"We could do an anti-orbing spell on the place," Piper suggested mildly. "If we did it before he…"
"No," Chris and Leo interrupted simultaneously. Chris glanced at Leo, surprised by the Elder's vehemence, and wondered if they were thinking the same thing. He doubted Leo had ever fought an Elder before, but he would at least appreciate the fact that things could go wrong, and it was also necessary to have an escape plan.
And Paige was the best escape plan they could have.
Leo cleared his throat and, after giving Chris a quick look, said, "You don't understand how powerful Gideon is. You're going to need to leave Paige the option of orbing you out of there. In case everything falls apart."
"You don't think we can handle it?" Piper demanded, hands on her hips.
"I think Gideon is stronger than anything you've gone up against except possibly the Source, and I'm not willing to take chances," Leo replied stubbornly.
"He's right," Chris said with a firm nod of agreement. "It does mean taking the risk that Gideon runs, but I think it is far riskier to do it the other way. You three are just going to need to be fast."
"Okay… so, Leo gets us into Magic School, we find Gideon and bind his powers, then…" Paige trailed off and frowned. "Do we have a vanquishing spell or are we hoping that one of those potions will do it?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow at Piper.
"We've got a spell," Chris said grimly and withdrew a folded piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Piper, who took it, opened it, and read the spell quickly. Then she nodded.
"Looks good," she said a bit begrudgingly.
Chris swallowed and couldn't meet her gaze. The approval in her voice made him think of his version of Piper and the few times he'd written spells for her. She'd always praised his work, in part because he was good at it, and in part because it was one of the few areas of magic where his abilities surpassed Wyatt's.
Of course, he'd spent quite a bit of time working on this particular spell. Ever since Lucifer had first told him that Gideon was involved, he'd devoted every spare second to researching how to vanquish an Elder. It had to be done in secret, of course, because if any of the Elders had found out what he was up to, it would have been a disaster. But he hadn't survived the hellish future for nothing, and he was good at keeping secrets.
Piper passed the spell to the others, and they each read it and nodded. It called upon the powers of the Halliwell line, as well as a few other, darker magics. Leo must have noticed that, because he stared at the spell for a full minute before giving Chris a level look.
Chris met his gaze and waited. The darker magics were required. There just wasn't another way for a witch to vanquish an Elder. Some demons could probably manage it, and the other Elders could vanquish one of their own, but witches… even strong ones like the Charmed Ones…
Leo finally nodded his consent. "It should work," he said, sounding displeased. The sisters either didn't notice his reluctance or didn't care enough to comment on it, but Chris knew how difficult it must be for Leo to agree to such a spell. It went against everything he believed and all the things he stood for... but then, so did working with Lucifer. And plotting to kill an Elder.
And he had agreed to all of it. If that wasn't a sign of just how much Leo was willing to do for his Wyatt, Chris didn't know what was.
Or was it just a sign of how much he hated Gideon? How much the betrayal was still eating away at him, twisting his insides?
"I'm going to check on Wyatt," Piper said, stepping out of the kitchen quickly. Leo seemed to have the same idea, and he followed her without much pause.
Chris watched them go, then let his thoughts wander to Lucifer. He knew he hadn't thought through this deal as much as he should have before making it. Lucifer had other plans, and even if Chris didn't know what they were, he knew that they wouldn't bode well for his family.
But more than that... in some ways, it felt almost as though he had given in without a fight. In the future, he'd been forced to work with demons, and on a few occasions, to work with Wyatt himself. He had never made a deal he couldn't find a way out of, and he had never created a plan that didn't somehow favor him in the end. But Lucifer had wanted his soul, and Chris had agreed to that exchange and hadn't tried to find a way out.
Logically, he knew that there wasn't a way out. Lucifer wasn't a demon, and he wasn't Wyatt. He was more than that - worse than that. Chris hadn't been lying when he told the Charmed Ones that the most anyone could ever hope for when dealing with Lucifer was to figure out exactly what they were willing to sacrifice and make sure not to lose anything else.
He knew what he was willing to sacrifice. His soul.
But Lucifer had other plans. So had Chris really made sure that the devil wouldn't take anything else?
Or had he just given up?
Phoebe looked over at Chris. "You lied," she said, breaking into his thoughts.
"Uh…"
"About knowing Lola. When I told you about my premonition, you knew who she was. And you lied," Phoebe elaborated.
Chris debated lying again, or trying to evade the question, but knew he wouldn't be able to succeed. Paige was watching him suspiciously, and Phoebe had a rather shrewd look in her eyes.
"Yes," he said simply. He didn't bother saying anything else. He'd already explained his reasons for not telling them about the deal with Lucifer, and if they didn't believe him, there was little he could do to change that.
"She wasn't there," Phoebe said.
"Uh… not following the conversation, Phoebe," Chris said pointedly.
Phoebe sighed. "Lola. She wasn't at P3 last night. Lucifer was, but she wasn't… and my premonition showed her being vanquished. Not him."
"Maybe it wasn't supposed to happen last night," Chris suggested. "Maybe your premonition takes place tonight or tomorrow night."
But Phoebe shook her head. "No. It was last night. I'm sure of it."
Chris considered this for a long moment, then heaved a sigh. "I warned Lola," he admitted, wondering how Phoebe would react to that bit of information. "After you told me about the premonition, I warned her to stay away from P3. Maybe that was all it took. Maybe she was going to be there last night, but because of my warning…" He trailed off and waited for a response, half-expecting a tirade about working with demons or preventing them from being vanquished.
Phoebe chewed her lip, her head tilted the side and her eyes slightly unfocused. "Maybe," she agreed slowly, "but… I don't know. Something feels off about that… Usually it takes a lot more than just a warning to stop a premonition from coming true…"
Chris opened his mouth to reply, though he wasn't entirely sure what he would say, but Piper and Leo chose that moment to enter the kitchen again, and all thoughts of Phoebe's premonition were pushed aside.
"Alright, let's walk through the plan one more time," Piper said, her voice hard and dangerous, "and then let's go find this Gideon."
The hallway seemed to stretch on for eternity.
Piper glanced around anxiously, noting the several students making their way from room to room. None of them seemed aware of the presence of the three Charmed Ones, and Piper allowed herself a small smile of triumph. The spell to cloak them was clearly working.
Paige met her eyes, worried. It was one thing to cloak themselves from mortal children. It was something else entirely to cloak themselves from an Elder.
They continued walking.
Leo had opened a door for them into Magic School. It had been strange to have a doorway suddenly appear in the middle of the Manor, but Leo had cautioned that Gideon would be able to sense it if they orbed directly into the school. In fact, he would be able to sense any kind of magic in the school, which meant that they couldn't use their active powers until they were ready to confront him or they would lose the element of surprise.
Even the cloaking spell was a risk, but it was a calculated one. They couldn't afford to get any students involved.
Piper curled her fingers over the potion vial she was holding in one hand and struggled to keep the rage burning inside of her under control.
This wasn't like any other demon vanquish. This was someone they should have been able to trust.
And this was someone who would turn her son evil.
She hadn't felt this way since they'd faced Shax after Prue's death.
Leo had been able to describe the layout of Magic School, and Chris had drawn them a rudimentary map. His knowledge of the school was a bit surprising, but Piper hadn't questioned it. It was helpful to know where they would most likely find Gideon, and she could question Chris later.
Unless Lucifer came for him before she had a chance.
She pushed that thought away. It was hard to accept how much Chris was willing to sacrifice to save the future, particularly given his past actions. Leo had told her once that he trusted Chris' motives, if not his judgment, and Piper was starting to agree.
Except, of course, that she was glad for what he had done.
Anything to save her son.
Phoebe helped up a hand to stop them and then pointed to a door on their left.
Gideon's office.
It felt anticlimactic. Here they were, standing outside the office of their known enemy, about to start a battle with an Elder. There were no trumpets or drums. There wasn't even the usual rush of adrenaline that accompanied the beginning of a large battle.
It made Piper nervous.
Paige glanced around the hallway. Most of the students who had been wandering about were gone, but there were a few still around, and they would be easy targets if anything got out of hand. The youngest Charmed One unfolded a piece of paper and read quickly. The spell would be subtle enough to keep the students away without them being aware that they were being kept away.
"Send all away from this place, block the students from this space, to keep them safe from the fight and keep us hidden from their sight."
Then she nodded to Phoebe, and the middle Charmed One walked forward and kicked the door open.
Gideon's office was not large, and it was crammed with tables, shelves, chairs, and books. The clutter made it look smaller than it actually was. One of the walls was covered with a large curtain, and in the center of the room sat a small circular table with a chessboard on it.
Gideon himself stood over the chessboard.
He looked up at the door, eyes widening in surprise. Piper knew he wouldn't be able to see anything – the cloaking spell would keep them hidden – but Leo warned her that Gideon wouldn't need to see them to be able to sense exactly where they were, and before she could even attempt to attack him, he had flung out one hand and muttered a word that pushed aside the veil hiding them and left the three sisters in plain view.
His eyes narrowed.
Piper's heart jumped into her throat.
"The Charmed Ones," Gideon said, adopting a tone of surprise. "Forgive me, I was not expecting you. Is something wrong? Has Leo sent you?"
Piper felt a surge of rage at his words, and the world simmered red before her eyes. How dare he pretend that he was on their side? How dare he stand there and act as though he was anything but the enemy?
Did he really think that they didn't know?
Phoebe held the binding spell out in front of her, and Piper and Paige came quickly to her side. Without waiting to see Gideon's response, they started reading.
"Prudence, Patricia, Penelope, Melinda, Astrid, Helena, Laura, and Grace…"
Gideon reacted instantly, flinging out one arm and sending a wave of energy towards the sisters. The air around him rippled with the intensity of the blast, but Piper raised her hands and froze the energy before it could hit them. The air in front of her remained distorted, and the energy didn't dissipate. She had no idea how long it would stay frozen, but hopefully long enough to finish the spell.
"Halliwell witches stand strong beside us…"
Gideon snarled, his face twisted in pain. The spell was already starting to take effect, slowly forcing its way around his powers.
It might have weakened his slightly, but it also served to make him furious.
And desperate.
Electricity burst from his fingertips, but this time, instead of aiming it at the Charmed Ones, he directed it towards the ceiling above them. It hit the ceiling and caused the stone to splinter, and then everything caved inwards, spewing fragments of rock down on the three sisters.
Piper had only a second to recognize the fact that she was not going to be able to freeze the entire ceiling in time, then she felt Paige's hand on her arm and her body dissolved into white and blue lights.
They reappeared on the other side of the room. Piper stumbled and caught herself against a bookshelf. Phoebe, too, seemed disoriented by their sudden orbing, but Paige landed steadily on her feet. And as Piper cast her gaze towards the doorway of the room, she realized with horror that it was probably only Paige's quick thinking that had saved their lives.
The energy wave that Gideon had initially thrown at them had unfrozen at the same time that the ceiling collapsed, and the entire doorway had born torn apart.
They would have been killed beneath the falling rubble.
Gideon spun to face them, and Piper wondered vaguely why he didn't just flee. He could orb away; he had the perfect opportunity to do so while they were still disoriented. But maybe his arrogance made him stay put. Maybe he truly did not believe that they were a threat to him.
He was an Elder, after all.
Phoebe groaned in obvious pain, but then continued with the binding spell, and Paige and Piper quickly joined in.
"Bind the powers of this being, prevent his…"
Piper's words broke off with a cry of shock as Gideon flung his chess set at her. The pieces transformed midair, growing larger and seemingly coming to life, and Piper found herself facing a two-foot tall White Queen with a sword made of solid stone.
She blew up the Queen.
"Chess set!" Paige cried, extending on hand and redirecting the pieces back towards Gideon.
But Gideon merely waived his hand and the pieces became inanimate once more. He then snarled something, a few words Piper couldn't hear, and Paige screamed in pain and clutched her head. She fell to her knees, her cries becoming choked, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
She fell over completely, unconscious.
Without Paige, they didn't have the power of three. Without Paige, they couldn't say the binding spell.
Without Paige, they couldn't orb out of Magic School.
"You fools," Gideon spat. "What are you doing? What evil has gotten to you?"
"You're plotting to kill my son!" Piper spat, fear for Paige mixing with her fury and her desire to protect Wyatt at all costs.
"Piper, he's drawing power from the school," Phoebe hissed warily, even as she rubbed at her head. Piper didn't bother asking how Phoebe knew that, she just merely nodded, and Phoebe fell into a defensive stance as she added, "He's stronger than us… stronger than even he should be…"
"What are you talking about?" Gideon asked, ignoring Phoebe and focusing on Piper. "Piper, listen to me. Something has corrupted your mind, twisted your thoughts. You need to let me help you. Please."
His voice was gentle, soothing. His words were calm and measured, and the look of fury that had sparkled in his eyes when he attacked them was gone now, replaced by something softer. Something Piper desperately wanted to trust.
But all she had to do was look at the ruined half of the room, at the broken stone littering the ground, and the place where the wall had been torn away by the force of Gideon's power, and the muddled thoughts quickly evaporated from her mind.
Gideon wasn't trustworthy.
"I'm not the one who has turned evil," Piper said coldly. And she lifted her hands and flicked her wrists at him, intent on blowing him up. He blocked the first attack, but she kept going, over and over and over. She slowly backed him across the room, refusing to let up, refusing to give him the slightest chance to catch his breath. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears and could feel the rage simmering just below her skin, and even though it felt like her emotions were taking over her rational thought, even though the idea of losing herself completely in this anger scared her, she didn't stop.
Blowing him up wouldn't kill him, but it would hurt.
She wanted him to hurt.
The final attempt did succeed, and Gideon exploded into tiny blue and white lights. But before his orbs had disappeared completely, Phoebe had flung a potion vial at him, the top partially unscrewed. The vial spilled in midair, potion falling onto the orbs, and the room was filled with the sound of Gideon's disembodied screams.
He reappeared a moment later, stumbling backwards. There were burns on his skin, and blood on his robes.
Phoebe kicked him as hard as she could in the chest. Gideon hit the wall with a resounding thud, but retaliated quickly, and lashed out at Phoebe with one arm. His elbow made contact with her side and she doubled over with a groan, but then kicked his feet out from underneath him and sent him to the floor.
"Piper!" Phoebe called, shoving a piece of paper at Piper without taking her eyes away from Gideon, "Say the vanquishing spell!"
One witch saying the spell wouldn't be enough to vanquish Gideon, but it might at least slow him down. Weaken him.
Piper started reading.
"Hear now the words of the witches, the secrets we hid in the night…"
Gideon flung an energy ball at Phoebe, but she levitated over it and it slammed harmlessly into the wall behind her. His next attack, another energy ball, hit her in the chest, but it was not strong enough to cause any lasting harm.
Just pain and distraction.
"…that darkness should soon vanish and good shall win this fight…"
Phoebe gasped in pain and threw another potion at Gideon, but he dodged it easily.
"…outside of time, outside of gain, know only sorrow, know only pain…"
Phoebe tried again, this time throwing another potion and timing it to coincide with a kick, but he caught her leg and pulled her forward and off-balance. She fell, collapsing at his feet, and Gideon's eyes narrowed dangerously as he orbed an athame into his hand and lifted it above her.
In a rush of adrenaline and fear, Piper practically screamed the last words of the spell, "We call upon the fires of hell and let Death takes you with this spell!"
Gideon gave a howl of rage as his body was engulfed in black and red waves of light. He took a few steps backwards, dropping the athame. It clattered to the floor, but the sound was overwhelmed by the Elder's continued screams. His face contorted and the light pushed in on him, but it didn't seem to be enough to vanquish him.
In the middle of it, he orbed away.
Piper fell to her knees beside Phoebe. "You okay?" she asked hoarsely, her words echoing in the sudden stillness of the room.
Phoebe pushed herself to a sitting position and nodded wearily. "Gideon got away," she muttered.
"Yeah," Piper said, her voice hard. "We need to get back to the Manor. Now."
"Then we need to wake up Paige," Phoebe said, eyeing the entrance to the office. It was completely blocked by the fallen ceiling. There was no way out of the room besides orbing.
Wyatt was sleeping.
He looked angelic, his blonde hair forming loose curls, his eyes closed, his head resting against the white of the pillow. Leo stared at him for a long moment, watching the way his small chest rose and fell with each steady breath. He had never imagined that being a father would feel quite like this: the strange mixture of fierce love and never-ending worry.
He glanced over at Chris. The brunette white-lighter was standing by the window of the nursery, staring out at the sky. He was clearly lost in his own thoughts, but the tension in the lines of his body and the way his hands were clenched at his sides showed that, despite his wandering thoughts, he was alert and prepared for anything.
"You're worried," Leo said.
Chris continued staring out the window. "Yes," he said softly, so softly that Leo had to strain to catch the answer.
"About Gideon or Lucifer?" Leo questioned.
Chris snorted and responded in a slightly louder voice, "I'm not afraid to lose my soul."
That was a blatant lie, one that Leo had no problem seeing through.
It also wasn't what Leo had meant.
The Elder looked back at Wyatt and said quietly, "There's no shame in... in being afraid. And Chris... We... I... I do appreciate what you're doing for my son. I know I didn't get a chance to say it before and... and I might not have a chance to say it... after."
After this was over. After the Charmed Ones vanquished Gideon. After the threat to Wyatt was removed.
After Lucifer came for Chris' soul.
Chris didn't say anything, so Leo continued, "But that wasn't what I meant."
Chris stiffened, but he at least didn't pretend to misunderstand what Leo was getting at it. He was silent for a moment, then said "I'd be a fool to trust Lucifer. I'd be a fool to believe my soul is the only thing he plans to take. And of all the things you can - and have - accused me of being, a fool isn't one of them."
And, quite suddenly, Leo had to know. It was a question he hadn't asked in a long time, not since he had finally decided that the answer didn't matter to him. This trusting Chris had crept up on him slowly and by degrees. First Chris had saved the sisters from Gith, then his fiancé had been killed, then he had saved Wyatt from the Order…
He trusted Chris, he did.
But now he had to know. Or, at least, he had to hear Chris admit the truth that he already knew.
"Chris," he said, and waited until Chris was facing him fully before continuing, "Did you send me to Valhalla?"
Chris started, and then a bitter smile formed on his features. "You really have a one-track mind, don't you?" he said, rolling his eyes.
Leo remained silent, waiting for Chris to answer.
Chris continued to stare at him for a few minutes, then he said with heavily, "Yes. But you already know that, so why are you asking?"
Leo shrugged and looked back at Wyatt. "I just don't understand why. And I want to. I want to know why you thought it was necessary to get rid of me to protect my son." He tried his best to keep his voice neutral, but he couldn't help the slightly acrimonious tone. Chris hadn't felt a need to send Piper away, to trap her on an island and force her to spend months fighting. Why had it been so important to get rid of Leo?
Chris opened his mouth, and it was clear he was about to snap back with an instinctual reply. Anger and accusation flashed in his green eyes, and his cheeks were suddenly flushed with a faint pink.
He stopped himself. Leo watched in mild surprise as Chris physically forced his emotions back under control. He hadn't expected the question to elicit quite that response.
"You'd be watching me," Chris said finally. "I never meant to tell you about Wyatt being evil, but I thought if you were watching me, you'd start questioning my motives and I didn't want to waste time arguing with you."
Leo narrowed his eyes. That wasn't the full truth. It wasn't even a particularly good half-truth.
"Kidnapping me certainly wasn't going to make me trust you," the Elder said pointedly. "If you didn't want me questioning your motives, why would you take that risk?"
Chris shrugged. "I didn't think I had a whole lot of options," he answered. Again, it was clear that there was something else he wasn't saying, and Leo was about to press the issue, when Chris said, "You know that there will be repercussions from this."
It wasn't a question, but Leo answered anyway, "Yes."
"The Elders…"
"I know," Leo said sharply. It had taken him a while to get past the string of betrayal at the revelation of what Gideon was planning, but once he had finally been able to push that aside and focus on the task at hand, he had been left with the unsettling realization that the Charmed Ones were planning on killing an Elder… and the other Elders would not approve of that. Regardless of what Gideon had done.
Leo looked down at Wyatt. He didn't really want to think about it, about what they might all end up losing because of this. But it was Wyatt, it was his son.
It was worth it.
And then, without warning, Chris was telekinetically thrown off his feet and sent flying into the wall. His head slammed against the wood and he slumped over, unconscious. Wyatt woke up at the noise and his shield rose almost immediately, the force-field hovering over him in a dome of protective energy. Leo stared at his son, and then at Chris, and then turned his attention towards the doorway of the nursery.
Gideon stood there.