The days that followed future Chris' death and his baby self's birth were fraught with grief and secrets. Leo didn't want to tell Piper about their son's fate while she was still in the hospital so he, Phoebe, and Paige managed to come up with a semi-believable cover story until she and the baby were discharged. Leo essentially refused to let Wyatt out of his sight, fearful his oldest son could be kidnapped again at any moment, and kept flip-flopping between crying and a rage so powerful he lost control of his powers a few times. Leo came out of the nursery with Wyatt before he went to pick up Piper and Chris and came face to face with Paige. An unexpected wave of grief so powerful it nearly bowled him over hit him out of the blue - Paige felt the same because her face unexpectedly crumpled. They both teared up as they continued staring at each other, at a loss for words. Paige finally managed to pull herself back together enough to ask him a question, but her voice still cracked. "Heading to the hospital to pick up Piper, Phoebe, and Chris?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah, I am. You coming with me?"
She shook her head, finding it impossible to hold herself together. Paige took comfort in the fact that her nephew was still with them but she had a feeling his future self's death would haunt her (them) for a long time. "Nah, think I'll stay here. You want me to watch Wyatt?"
Leo didn't really want his toddler in the hospital again when they could avoid it but he couldn't let go of him. "You want to stay with Aunt Paige or go see Mommy, buddy?" he asked him.
Wyatt held his arms out towards Paige and babbled gibberish at her. "Staying with me. I won't let him out of my sight," she promised.
"I know you won't." Leo took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down, wondering how he and Paige would ever be able to cope with this shared trauma. "Be good for Aunt Paige, kiddo. Daddy will be back as soon as possible with Mommy and your baby brother." He waved goodbye and then headed towards the car, not wanting to orb home with a newborn and injured wife.
Phoebe looked relieved when he walked into Piper's room. "She knows something's up," she whispered to her brother-in-law.
"It's fine. I'm telling her when we get home." Leo dreaded the conversation that awaited them. "I'll heal you as much as I can once we're out of here," he informed Piper, trying desperately to fake a smile.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion but didn't protest when he wheeled them out of there. An awkward silence filled the car on the ride home but they were all content to sit in silence. As soon as they got inside, Phoebe put Chris down inside his bassinet while Leo healed Piper. "You're all hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is."
"We'll let Leo tell you. Phoebe and I will feed Wyatt," Paige declared. Her sister followed her into the kitchen, leaving Piper and Leo alone.
She glanced at her husband and tried to steel herself for whatever Leo was about to tell her. He helped her to the couch, and cleared his throat a few times. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry, Piper," Leo said first, his voice cracking.
A panicking Piper picked up his hand and refused to let go. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. It's something about Chris," she correctly deduced.
"It was Gideon who was after Wyatt this entire time. He thought our son was a threat and wanted to kill him. He sent us through that portal to the alternate world on purpose and made his move then." Leo choked on a sob. "He stabbed Chris with a cursed athame then kidnapped Wyatt. He teamed up with Barbas to try to fix what he broke after sending us to the alternate world - he shifted the balance, which is why everything was so fucked while you were in labor. I couldn't heal Chris because Gideon's magic prevented me from doing so so I had Paige stay with him while I tried to track down our son. She called me back here." Leo had to take a break to try to compose himself.
Tears dripped Piper's face because she had a gut feeling about what was coming next and didn't want her world to be knocked off its axis. They had just had a baby. How had everything gone so wrong? "I'm here," she assured her husband, her voice breaking.
Leo nodded and tried to soak up Piper's comfort before she blamed him for losing their son. How could she not when he did? He finally found his voice again and continued breaking the news to her. "I begged him to hold on but it was too late. Our son died in my arms and then faded away."
She sobbed and hugged him. "Faded away?"
"I don't know why that happened but I intend to find out. I'm sorry, Piper," he apologized again.
"It is not your fault, Leo. Please stop apologizing," she begged.
Leo wasn't convinced but he needed to finish the story. "Afterwards, I finally tracked them down in the Underworld and saved Wyatt. To restore the balance, an act of great evil had to be committed in our world but that's not why I did what I did next. I killed Gideon. He won't ever hurt anybody again."
"Did that bastard suffer?" She hoped so.
"He did," he confirmed.
"Good. I hope Gideon rots in hell. Fuck the Elders," Piper hissed. Much to her surprise, Leo didn't disagree or try to argue like he usually did. Mindful of her still healing incision from the C-section, Piper surged forward and brought Leo into her arms, and cried together as they mourned the loss of their youngest, who was still here to enjoy this new world his future self had sacrificed himself for.
Anger surged up again afterwards, and Leo orbed to the attic (Piper hot on his heels) to take it out on the furniture again. She let him go, horrified by his actions but completely understanding them. She didn't blame him at all for his reaction. "What are we going to do now?" she asked him, surveying the damage with bleary eyes. She didn't want to let the boys out of her sight at all now in the wake of everything that had gone down.
"I don't know." He had the sudden urge to head down to the Underworld and take out any and all demonic threats to keep Wyatt and Chris safe. "I'm done."
"Done with what?" Piper was confused by the sudden shift in conversation.
"With the Elders." He fully intended to quit and clip his wings but needed to ensure his family's safety first. The very thought was consuming him and he was too angry to think rationally.
Piper's mouth dropped open. "What?"
"I don't trust them anymore."
"You do whatever you need to, I'll support you," she assured him after they exchanged a kiss. Piper meant it too, with every fiber of her being.
Leo stayed the night, keeping an eye on Piper and their sons, but when the sun rose he headed down to the Underworld looking to vanquish any demon he could.
Leo had hit rock bottom hard, and it'd take months to pull himself back up. The Avatars manipulating and gaslighting him at his lowest, twisting shit up even more, and the Elders compounding the situation with their mistrust only exacerbated the issue. Piper, of course, defended and enabled the love of her life, but refused to give up on him, intimately knowing the pain Leo was in. He had always been her rock during her darkest moments - now it was her turn to be his.
Leo didn't fully feel like himself again until after the Avatars' Utopia experiment failed. Falling from Grace and becoming mortal also quieted some demons, although Chris' death haunted him for the rest of his life (even after his middle child assured he wasn't at fault, that he didn't blame his father one bit. It lifted a huge weight off his shoulders, however).
Piper and Leo's grief had brought them back together, and things finally started looking up after the Ultimate Battle, the past few turbulent years at long last behind them.