Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Piper didn’t even think twice about it. By this point in her witch career, her powers were second nature, searching the book in the attic a habit, and the obvious response to an annoying whitelighter was trigger-fast. “For the last time, Chris,” Piper warned. “Wyatt’s got his playgroup; we’ve got no time for whatever demon you want…”

“Just a little one!” Chris hurried after her. He’d orbed in not long ago, immediately starting to shuffle through the book to point at his newest prey for the Charmed Sisters to hunt for him. Piper was over this slavedriver. Sure, over the last few months she'd gotten kind of fond of him, but she had other things to do. But Chris was not letting her go. “My sources say…” 

“If it’s a little one it can’t be a big problem, can it?” 

“But they’re gathering…” 

“Enough!” Piper didn’t even look over her shoulder as she flicked her hands back. Leo usually got the hint after he reformed to buzz off. 

Chris gasped dramatically behind her. Piper almost rolled her eyes. He got what he deserved for pestering her so endlessly. 

The dull thud was unexpected. It was the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. Her plan for slamming shut a door, and rushing down to Wyatt downstairs, was entirely forgotten as Piper spun back. 

Chris was on the ground, looking up at her in shock and betrayal. His face was contorted in pain, his eyes flickering open and shut, barely conscious. One arm held a bloody mess over his stomach. 

Why wasn’t he orbs? How was he so injured from her powers? This had never— 

“LEO!” Piper rushed forward and sank through her shaky knees. “LEO NOW. HELP!” Her hands pushed down on the wound she created. The bleeding was relentless, soaking into the carpet and hardwood faster than she could ever hope to stop it. Frantic, she looked around for anything that could help stop the bleeding, but wrapping this up in bandages would not suffice. He was bleeding out fast, and losing consciousness quicker.  “LEO, please…” 

Chris scoffed. “Wouldn… wouldn’t hold my… breath.” 

“Chris I’m so…No!” The young man’s eyes rolled back and his breathing went from shaky to scary even and slow. 

Blue orbs spiraled down. Before Leo had fully materialized Piper reached out and pulled her ex-husband down. “Heal!” she ordered, voice breaking. 

Leo’s eyes widened and immediately got to work. His hands drifted over the wound and the glow slowly started stitching Chris together. “What happened?” he asked, worried. 

Piper shook her head. Her vision blurred and words stuck in her throat. None of the questions mattered anymore at the horror of what she’d caused. 

Footsteps hurried up the stairs as Paige and Phoebe had been alerted by the yelling. 

“Oh my god,” Phoebe rushed to Chris’ side and brushed the whitelighter’s hair back. Chris’ face was still in agony, but at least seemed conscious again. “What…?” 

Paige was not far behind, scouring the area for any remaining demons. “Who attacked? Are you okay, Piper?” 

Piper only shook her head again. Her hands were shaking beyond any function. She’d done this. Without a thought, she’d nearly killed him. 

“Piper…” Phoebe said softly, clutching her chest. 

Abruptly Piper got to her feet and staggered back. She couldn’t. 

Chris’ eyes fluttered open. Then he jolted up, away from Leo’s hands. He quickly scanned the room and patted himself down. Finally, his eyes met Piper’s. 

“Chris…” Before Piper could say anything, Chis orbed away. The look on his face would forever remain in her memories. 

“No!” Phoebe gasped, reaching for where the man had been. “Leo. Leo, we have to follow him, now.” 

“What…” Leo tried, as Phoebe attached herself to his arm. 

“Go go go!” 

“Did you get something?” Paige asked. 

Phoebe nodded. “I could feel him. He’s… not doing good.” Her eyes flickered from Paige to Piper. “You stay. We’ll go. Find the demon.” She hip-bumped Leo. “Let’s go, come on.” 

Leto glanced around but was outvoted as Paige shooed him away. The pair orbed off. 

Carefully Paige took Piper by the shoulders and steered her away from the attic. 

“There you go…” Paige led Piper to the edge of her bed and helped her sit down. There was still no response from her eldest sister, who was pale and shaking. Paige sat down next to her, rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. “It’s okay, Piper. Chris got healed.” 

Piper shook her head violently. Nothing was okay. That argument was nothing. Chris was literally just a bit annoying, but overall this man had come from the future to save her son. Why had her instincts become so violent? She struck out over nothing and it almost cost…

“Hey hey…” Paige hugged her when sobs broke Piper’s body again. 

When Piper finally calmed a bit, Paige orbed down for a cup of tea, which she pressed into Piper’s hands. “Sweetie, I’m going to need you to tell me what happened. Were you attacked? Do we need to go fight a demon?” 

Drained, Piper only sighed. Finally, she looked at Paige and said, “I think I now know what would happen if I tried to blow you up.” 

“Why would…. Oh. Ooooohhh. No!” Piper watched the same shock, questions, and confusion settle over Paige, mixed with a bit of joy or relief. “He’s like me?” 

“I think so,” Piper confirmed. “Otherwise…” 

“So you…” 

Her hands clamped around the mug. “Yes.” 

“You didn’t know,” Paige hugged her again. Piper leaned into the comfort, but she wasn’t sure if her ignorance made it in any way okay. 

There were few words to describe the pain of being blown up by your mother. The physical pain, sure. Honestly, he’d had worse under Wyatt. That betrayal had stung bone-deep, but mom? That might break him. 

Chris staggered into his room in P3. As soon as his orbs landed he held onto his desk to stay upright. Even though he was physically fine now, his head was dizzy and the room was spinning. Everything was so wrong. Everything was wrong in the future, and everything was wrong here. Had it always been wrong? Maybe this was right, and he’s the one who’s always been wrong. 

Chris cursed to himself and sat down. He looked around the mess of a room: the scattered papers and notes, a shit mattress in the corner of a beer-smelling sticky club backroom, and posters of musicians who’d been past their prime before he’d even been born. What was he even doing? He’d made no progress and the sisters didn’t just mistrust him - they hated him. Leo, of all people, had healed him. For once. 

Though he doubted that if he’d been the one calling and not Piper, it wouldn’t have been the same. 

He still had no idea what he was doing. He was striking out in the dark and all he seemed to be destroying were his own bridges. The smell of beer was at the moment the only lead he had to any inspiration. 

Orbs jingled into the space, crowding him against his desk further as he desperately tried to back away from Leo and Phoebe. 

Phoebe quickly stepped towards him, while Leo seemed absolutely disinterested in being here. That at least was familiar. 

“What do you want?” Chris snapped brusquely. 

“Chris, you almost… We just want to talk.” 

“Future consequences.” 

“About today.” 

Yeah, he had no intention of doing that. 

“You must be so…” for once his aunt couldn’t choose her words. If Chris hadn’t been overcome by his own emotions, he might have noticed that Phoebe was too. 

“I must be what, Phoebe?” he cut in instead. He grabbed an armful of his notes from the desk and glared back at Leo. Of all the times for his father to follow him, this was not the right time. So of course, the universe had laughed at him. “The only thing I must be is going.” So he fled. Phoebe called out for him once more, but he orbed far away. He’d give them their space. 

He’d thought he could do this. That maybe he could save Wyatt, save the world, and make his parents proud for once. One year to undo a lifetime of mistakes and failures. 

No fuck that. He’d done it without them, before. He’d built up the resistance. They’d made this plan. He was the only one who could possibly do this. 

His feet landed on the dusty ground of the underworld. 

For all Wyatt talked about power, Chris understood quite well where power came from. There was one form people talked about less. Underestimation was an advantage, that was well known. But in loneliness, in desperation, there was the knowledge that there was no one to stop you. And no one to care if he failed. Wyatt wasn’t held back by stupid morality, but Chris wasn’t held back by restricting self-preservation. 

“You’ve got this, Phoebe,” Leo gently reassured his ex-sister-in-law. She nodded shakily. As soon as Chris had left the room, she’d collapsed. He’d guided her through regaining control of her breath and emotions, and now eased her back to her feet. 

“I’ve never felt him like that.” 

“You usually don’t feel him at all, right?” Leo had a strong idea of how that came to be, but right now Phoebe’s well-being was more important. The sisters were extremely rattled by today, yet he still didn’t understand what happened. Attacks happened all the time. 

“Must have been because he was so close to death.” Phoebe leaned on him and breathed out slowly. “Okay. Okay, I’m good.” 

“What did you feel?” 

She held her hands to her chest as if the memory was equally intense. “So much. I was afraid he’d… He’s not doing okay, Leo. Not at all.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“He’s scared. He’s so scared. Angry too. I think… He’d have rather died than be healed by you.” His investigations had pissed the whitelighter off for sure and Leo disliked the man too, but that was surprising. “I’m glad I’m not channeling directly anymore and just feeling or I’m sure I would have clocked you.” 

“Great.”

“Like seriously throw you into a wall and just keep going.” 

“Phoebe.” It wasn’t like Leo hadn’t done the same thing when he’d returned from Valhalla, but for Chris to hate him that much must have more reason. Yet Leo couldn’t put his finger on it. The things that just weren’t quite right about Chris Perry kept piling up. “He’s scared? Of being found out?” 

“No Leo. It’s like… a base state underlying it all. Fear as a standard state. Like he’s had to be for a long time. But back at the manor, it broke to the surface, layered with this betrayal and guilt and grief. And here too, with shame, and a lot of determination.” 

As much as Leo didn’t want to recognize that description, he knew it too well. He’d known it in his fellow soldiers when he was alive, and so many of his charges since. People with evil intent were less likely to identify with shame or guilt. 

Maybe his stories of being from a broken future weren’t fabrications. 

“Let’s go home.” Phoebe clung to his arm and Leo hugged her back. She needed it.

They orbed to the attic and found it empty. For a moment Leo panicked before sensing Piper just below them. 

In her (their) bedroom Piper and Paige discussed something in low tones. Though Piper still was shaken, she wasn’t fully panicking anymore. 

Phoebe threw herself at the two, landing starfished on the bed. Piper brushed her hand over her hair absently and Phoebe sighed contently.  

“Leo,” Piper turned to where Leo watched from the doorway. “What does it feel like when I blow you up?” 

Leo shrugged, confused. “Kinda hurts, but mostly just uncomfortable and itchy.” At Piper’s solemn nod and Paige’s thoughtful stare, he finally got it. One of the things that had never made sense about Chris. He didn’t act like a whitelighter. He was reckless but nervous about becoming injured when it shouldn’t matter. He was young. He was young. “He’s…?” 

Paige nodded. “New working theory.” 

“But why?” Leo asked. “Why would he lie and why be here?”   

Piper shook her head with a snarl, mostly to herself, “He’s here to help Wyatt and I kill him?” 

Leo sank to his knees before her, placing his hands over hers. “He’s alive. We saw him. Piper, he impersonated being a whitelighter to manipulate us. He’s not trustworthy.” 

“Doesn’t mean… I’d like to be alone now.” Piper walked out to go hold her baby. 

Chapter Text

“Why wouldn’t he tell us he’s half witch?” Paige paced the sunroom’s width, either frantically or enthusiastically.

“He doesn’t tell us anything,” Phoebe said, “His whole ‘future consequences’ schtick.”

“Yes, but this is good!” Paige threw her hands up. “This is great!” She gestured around like it was obvious and hadn’t just caused more questions than answers.

“How is this great?”

“Cause!” Paige pointed, “He’s half witch, half whitelighter. That means he, or his parents, or his existence, is common! Or more common. Or at least, they stick it to the elders! No offense, Leo.”

“Little offense is okay,” Piper hummed. Leo sent his ex-wife an incredulous look. She just shrugged.

“So,” Paige continued, “he’s on our side.”

“Well, not necessarily,” Phoebe muttered. “Against the elders isn’t necessarily good.” Piper shrugged again, unconvinced. Phoebe agreed, but still. “I do think he’s on our side,” Phoebe continued, “but it’s still… I think it’s time we all sit down and talk. These miscommunications are getting dangerous.”

“This was more than a miscommunication,” Paige argued, then quickly shut up when Phoebe sent her a look.

Piper bounced Wyatt on her knee nervously. The boy was oblivious to the tension in the room but was starting to pick up on his mother’s anxiety.

“Piper,” Phoebe said softly. “Would you have used your powers against him if you knew?”

“No, never,” Piper answered quickly. Her eyes still had a glassy stare, still seeing the same thing. Chris, on the ground, injured due to her. “I never wanted to hurt him. I just wanted him to back off.” 

“Exactly,” Phoebe crossed her legs, trying to ease into her seat. But the buzz of Chris’ emotions still had a hold of her, like a bad hangover. “And I think it’s important that he knows that.”

“He doesn’t, does he?” Piper whispered, mostly to herself.

“Chris is a dick a lot of the time. Maybe if we knew why we could help him better. That’s another miscommunication.”

“Again, not a miscommunication if he doesn’t communicate at all,” Paige grumbled. Phoebe glared again, but Paige held her ground. “Just saying.”

“Well, I’m just saying we need to get him to talk. We all need to talk.” Phoebe leaned forward and put a hand on Piper’s arm, to bring her attention back. Piper finally seemed to resurface and nodded determinedly. Phoebe waved at Wyatt for a smile, the baby always made her feel better. Fuck, she was an advice columnist, she had a psych degree. How had it gotten this far? “We have trouble trusting - and it’s not without reason - but we can’t keep treating every potential ally like we’re expecting another betrayal or loss. That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.” She looked around and Paige was nodding, but Leo and Piper were still hesitant. “I’m not saying we trust him blindly and fully immediately, but we have to give him an actual chance.”

“But what if he does…” Betrayal or loss. Either was an option they’d experienced too much.

“Then he does,” Phoebe confirmed. “We’ve handled worse.”

Piper sighed, tired of it all.

“He’s after Wyatt,” Leo protested.

“He’s claiming to be here to protect Wyatt,” Phoebe argued. “Yeah, he could be. All the more reason to keep a close eye on him. We can let him be close, or we can dismiss his warnings. It’s a risk either way. But Leo, he’s also like Wyatt.”

Leo closed his eyes, slowly accepting it to be true. Any resemblance between his son and target made the chase harder. “You’re right,” he admitted. “He needs to talk.”

“We,” Phoebe corrected.

Leo grimaced. “Yes. If he’s here to protect Wyatt, then yes, of course, we should trust him. But Phoebe, this won’t be his first real chance. He’s continuously lied, not just withheld information. He knew the Elders would die and didn’t stop it. He manipulated me into becoming an elder and separating — He did nothing when the Cleaners erased Wyatt. He’s frequently conspiring with demons. He’s killed valkyrie. He sent me to Valhalla and impersonated a full whitelighter to be close to the Charmed Ones. He’s running you ragged. Maybe for a good goal, maybe to get you vulnerable. He keeps throwing every second chance and benefit of the doubt in our faces. I do not distrust him without reasons.”

Paige shifted uncomfortably on her feet, and Piper refocused on Wyatt. She was losing them, and so Phoebe continued, “We should talk. But without Leo.”

“Without me, he’ll…” Leo stepped forward.

“He hates you, Leo.”

“Because I’m on to him!”

Phoebe shook her head. She searched for the emotions in the back of her mind that had overcome her before. “It’s so much deeper than that.” Even after Leo and Piper’s divorce, Phoebe loved her brother-in-law and his unwavering support and calming presence. Lately, that had been missing. Still, she could never imagine feeling the deep-seated fury Chris had diffused for Leo herself. “You think he’s guilty, Leo?”

Leo bristled but forced himself to calm down. “If he is, I’ll find out.”

“He feels guilty.” She couldn’t describe it entirely. Chris always held a tight lid on his emotions, and the burst dam had overwhelmed her. “When I felt him. It was… this pure desperation. It was agony. It was horrible. I don’t think he’s evil. When I feel people, I can’t connect it to goals or reasons, just emotion. And that guilt… No.” She looked at Piper. “Not guilt, exactly. He believed he deserved it.”

Piper shook her head in disbelief. Leo took a step back.

“Why?” Paige asked softly.

Phoebe breathed deeply. “We did that. But I also don’t think it was just us.”

“Leo.” The Elder looked back to his ex-wife. Piper held out Wyatt to him but refused to meet his eyes. “You should go.” Leo tried to protest, but she silenced him with a raised hand. “Phoebe’s right. We need to find him. And he won’t be here if you are.”

“Piper…”

“Say ‘bye daddy’.” She waved Wyatt’s little fist.

With a sigh, Leo said goodbye to his son. He looked around at the others for any support or protest, but there was none. Then he orbed out.

The tension in the room didn’t ease. “Scrying?” Paige suggested.

“Tomorrow,” Phoebe said. “I think he needs some time.” 

The three sisters went to their own rooms, eager for a moment of calm and planning or relaxation.

All three tried privately calling out to their half-whitelighter in vain.

Scrying doesn’t work.

The crystal circled San Francisco and then the globe endlessly. The ‘to call a lost witch’ spell failed equally. As annoying as Chris’ lecturing had been, they all had to admit he was good at his craft.

The first few days they spent a decent amount of time in the attic, trying to locate the wayward witchlighter, but to no results. They called for him frequently. Sometimes together as loud as they can, and more often alone. Phoebe called for him when she’s alone, promising to just want to talk and that she worries. No response. Paige tried jokingly “They’re gone now, just me. I know I’m your favorite, come on.” No response. Piper tried many times. Desperate, apologetic, angry. No response.

He didn’t show up at the manor again.

Their worry ticked into fear that something may have happened, even if they now believed more than ever that Chris could take care of himself.

Piper was once again scrying in the attic, restless, as much as her head wanted to fall asleep on the desk. Wyatt was playing in her lap with a soft cube, and she hoped that Chris’ connection with the boy might help her locate him. So far, no luck. She’d not been sleeping great, not just due to Wyatt’s fitful rest. When she falls asleep it’s Chris on the ground, wounded. His eyes stared at her, full of betrayal and pain and begging her to help. Sometimes, she’s so focused in on those eyes that when she blinks and looks back at the scene, it’s not Chris but Prue in front of her. Dying. Again. And she’s helpless to stop it. Sometimes it’s Mom. Or Grams. Leo, Phoebe, Paige, an adult imagination of Wyatt.

Everyone she couldn’t save.

(But so frequently Prue.)

“Anything?” Phoebe asked, entering the attic with her morning coffee. She was still in her pajamas, hair up, for a day of working from home and not expecting to go on a rescue mission.

“Nothing.” Piper dropped the crystal and rested her head in her hands.

Phoebe settled in an old wicker chair, curled up around her mug. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I know you want to find him. We all do.”

“I blew him up!” Piper hissed as if Wyatt wouldn’t hear.

“We all had a hand in his state, even if it was in different ways.”

Piper huffed. “Can’t you just… get a premonition or something? Find him?”

“I’ve tried! I’ve gone through all his belongings, trying to get anything.”

“Same.” Piper threw her arm toward the pile of clothes on the couch. “None of them will help scry.”

“Guess that makes sense, we lent most of those to him.” With a loud yawn and stretch, Phoebe set her mug down and walked to the center of the room. “Where was it?”

A painful memory flash came before Piper, but at least it helped her pinpoint the exact location where they’d seen Chris last. Phoebe crouched down and reached out her hands, concentrating. A minute passed of Phoebe scrunching her face in focus.  She opened her eyes, ready to get up, when she gasped a telltale sign.

“Did you get something?” Piper rushed forward.

Phoebe looked back with wide eyes. “Yes?”

“What do you mean ‘yes?’ What did you see?”

Phoebe reached down and pried something from the attic woodwork. “Not a premonition, but this might work.” In her hand, she held a small diamond ring. “I don’t think this is ours.”

The loud silence of traffic and stench of a not-great neighborhood greeted them when they orbed into an alley. Piper held out the map in front of them, marked with the spot the crystal dropped on.

She led the charge until they were faced with a large array of names and doorbells on the designated apartment building. “Now what?” Paige asked. “I can go scout, but we don’t want to be seen.”

Piper grasped the ring in her hand and let the crystal aim once again, hoping that maybe Chris had moved somewhere they didn’t have to go door duty for. Instead of the map, the crystal pointed to a doorbell.

“That works.” Paige hooked her arms back into her sisters’ and orbed them to the appropriate floor. The interior of the building wasn’t much prettier, and their worry for Chris increased. The back room of P3 wasn’t anything to write home about, but it at least didn’t have mold.

“In,” Piper demanded, flapping her hand towards the door and latching back onto Paige.

Phoebe stopped her. “As much as I don’t want him to run either, I think we at least should ring here. To be polite.”

Piper groaned but did ring the bell.

Immediately shuffling was heard from the other side.

“If he runs,” Piper warned.

“We can track him again.”

Piper’s sneer was replaced by a sunny smile as soon as the door started to open. It stayed on a crack, and a woman with short blonde hair looked out suspiciously. “Can I help you?”

“Hello!” Piper said cheerfully. “We’re looking for Chris.”

“You’ve got the wrong place.” The woman looked back and forth down the hallway and sized each of the sisters up. Behind her seemed to be a normal apartment with a clean living room. No sign of Chris.

“Chris, about this tall, brown hair, stick up his…”

The woman’s eyes fell on the map under Piper’s arm and the crystal dangling from it. Her eyes widened and immediately the door was slammed shut.

“Now?” Paige asked and Phoebe nodded. They orbed three feet forward into the apartment. Back to back, they tried to see where the woman had fled or Chris could be hiding. Multiple doorways were options. From one, an energy ball came flying. Piper quickly froze it mid-air, and they all ducked before it unfroze and flew over them.

The woman crossed the room in a hurry while they were distracted, to where a young girl came running. Too baffled by the situation, the Charmed ones only watched as they met and shimmered away. The sisters were left alone in the home.

Piper was the first to find her voice. “Demons?!”

“Demon child,” Paige noted. Then she raised her voice, “Chris?”

Their search of the apartment was frenzied now they knew Chris’ scrying had located a demon hideout. Still, they could find no trace of him. No notebooks that he usually kept around, no male clothing, no orbs. There were plenty of potion ingredients and athames, as well as wiccan symbols carved into the wall of one bedroom.

Paige and Phoebe reconvened in the living room, having found nothing of note. The demon type was basic, insofar as energy balls and shimmering go, but Paige was eager to get back to the book and identify them. She’d seen a strange marking on the inside of the woman’s wrist when she threw the energy ball.

It took some convincing to orb Piper back to the Manor rather than have her set up her map and crystal in the middle of the living room. They didn’t know when the demons would be back and if they’d have backup. Piper set up in the attic instead, once again clutching the ring and scrying.

“Found it,” Paige said after a while. “Phoenix. Elite witch assassin. Lovely.”

“As in they are witches who are assassins, or they assassinate specifically witches?” Phoebe asked.

“You know, the book is unclear.”

“Either way, not good news for Chris.” Phoebe gave a worried look over her shoulder to Piper, who had a single focus on her scrying. The crystal dropped.

“Got it,” Piper announced. “Park. Let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we prep…” Paige started, but Piper had already attached herself to Paige’s arm. “Okay then.” Phoebe quickly pocketed some standard potions regardless.

Paige orbed them to an out of direct view part of the park. From their hidden spot behind the trees, they searched for the blonde woman again.

She wasn’t hard to find, sitting in clear view on a bench, watching the child play and run around. Chris was nowhere in sight.

“Do you think she stole that kid too?” Piper asked.

Phoebe shook her head. “I felt protectiveness. I think that’s her daughter.”

Paige nodded. “Assassin child.” She tried to step forward, get a better view, and maybe look around, but a branch snapped.

The Phoenix’s head snapped up in their direction. She got to her feet quickly, pulling a dagger from nowhere and holding it out defensively while she backed up. “Bianca!”

The girl stopped playing and ran to her mother.

“Wait!” Piper flicked her wrists, but the Phoenixes didn’t freeze. Instead, they shimmered out again. Piper groaned and got out her map once more.

“This is getting nowhere,” Paige said, frustrated. “And we can’t just vanquish them, we’ll never find him. Also, they could’ve maybe hidden Chris at their place before, but here is out in the open!”

“Of course…” Phoebe stopped Piper’s hand from scrying again. “That’s because they’re not. Look!” Carefully she pried the ring free and held it up. Piper looked unimpressed. “We’re tracking a ring. We’re following a girl, who must be only a few years older than Chris. We’re not following Chris; we’re following his fiancée.”

Paige blanched. “His — He’s younger than us!” She laughed. “Well, let’s put that on the list of things he never told us.”

Piper stared at her map uselessly and bit out, “Engaged to a demon.”

“Witch assassin,” Paige corrected. “Not actually a demon. I think.”

“Regardless,” Piper said and got up, folding her belongings a bit aggressively. “Not a mark in the ‘trustworthy’ column.”

“You don’t know that,” Phoebe said softly. “Love is love. We don’t know their story.”

“Pheebs, loving a demon didn’t work exactly work out well for you.”

Phoebe shrugged. She pocketed the ring, promising to keep it safe until she could return it. She knew they’d never settle that argument. Her sisters couldn’t understand that just because the end had been bad didn’t mean there had been no good at all. The pain had only been real because the love had been too.

And so, a few more of Chris’ emotions she’d felt settled into place.

Chapter Text

Months go by and demon attacks don’t let up, but life goes on. The sisters try to enjoy the quiet, but they all know by now that quiet is just the calm before the storm. Anxiety runs rampant in the house, only worsened by the fact they all try to pretend everything is fine. The warnings and promises linger. Chris had been far too much with his constant pushing, directing, and doomsaying, but at least he was ahead of the curve. Now, they were back to waiting for the next attack without any knowledge of what, when, or how.

Worse was the waiting for any news on whether their whitelighter was still alive - their witchlighter. They gave in slightly by asking Leo to check with the Elders, but even they had no idea where Chris was. Not only was Chris adept at using his whitelighter powers to ‘mute’ his charges, but he also was apparently generally capable of cloaking himself quite successfully (much to Leo’s annoyance after Chris had found out Leo had been tracking him). Additionally, and most likely, Chris was frequently in places the Elders couldn’t reach.

He was alive. They all knew it; Chris was a capable fighter, especially now they knew he was a witch too (though they could only speculate on his powers). But despite his clear capabilities, he also showed clear weaknesses: his comfort and familiarity with the house.

The Book of Shadows is sometimes open on different pages than they’d left it. Paige started marking her last used pages to be sure and communed to make sure it was none of their ancestors who were using the book.

When making grocery lists, Piper noticed that potion supplies were running out faster than they were using them. Specifically, supplies used for powerful generic vanquishing and healing potions. Pots and pans were always cleaned and put back, but the dishrack and towel were still wet, and she knew she was the only one to use them otherwise.

Phoebe heard whispers and her nephew’s joyful laughter from Wyatt’s room, followed by the sounds of orbing and Wyatt’s crying when she approached. 

As stealthy as Chris was, he was not subtle.

Paige wondered if there would be more like them in the future. Why hadn’t he told her? She wanted to talk about their powers, how they worked, the differences and mergers of whitelighter versus witch powers, and if they exhibited similarly. She wanted to know what he was so afraid of, and if the magic he knew so well yet was still new for her was always going to be a problem. She wanted to be less alone and her one-year-old nephew wasn’t enough. She wanted to trust him.

Phoebe dreaded the pain and betrayal and anger she’d felt from him when he left the attic. She feared the one-sighted determined focus when he left P3. Nothing mattered. There was a darkness he carried. Not evil, but the weight of horrors seen she couldn’t imagine, and the expectations and pressure from others. It hadn’t been guilt, she knew now. It was the feeling of failure. Failing expectations. She was all too familiar with it.

Additionally, she was becoming more familiar with his loneliness as the cold atmosphere in the house grew. Paige was mostly out, seeking her independence and position in the world, and Piper had been dealing with Chris’ absence the worst. She flipped between anger, denial, and grief, all exhibiting as avoidance. 

Piper couldn’t shake the destruction she caused so easily. She was the matriarch, the oldest sister, a mother. And Chris on that floor, wounded by her hand, had looked so young and so afraid.

Before, Chris had been so easy to brush off and fight with because he had been an easy scapegoat. He seemed so strong, unbothered, reliable. Someone who couldn’t break if she took out some of her frustration on him (though much of it he caused).

But he was someone’s son. And she was supposed to be a protector.

She spent more time reflecting, reading, baking, holding Wyatt, and trying to enjoy the quiet. It all just felt wrong. How could she enjoy this quiet when it cost so much? Over their entire witch journey, they’d paid such high prices for moments of quiet and peace. But then the blame and blood had been on the enemies’ hands, not hers.

“Piper!” Phoebe yelled frantically as the demon rushed across the foyer. Another lance appeared in his hands. Paige was already on the ground, pierced and stuck to the ground.

Piper flicked her wists over and over, her breathing ragged and shallow. The demon roared distorted through the time manipulation, but slowed only minimally before breaking through.

“Blow him up! Piper!”

The demon didn’t freeze.

Paige, bleeding on the ground. Phoebe crouched next to her. Out of potions.

Chris, bleeding on the ground. Leo crouched next to him.

“I…” Her wrists slowed. She tried to reach for her powers, but nothing but slowness came back.

“Lance,” Paige’s weak voice coughed. She’d tried before, but the demon kept a tight grip on its weapon.

Still, orbs appeared in its path and the demon ran straight onto the sharp point. Flames erupted and it combusted soon after, nearly drowning out Phoebe’s screaming for Leo.

Piper wished her powers worked on witches so she could slow the blood seeping from the open wound on Paige’s stomach where the lance had been. Instead, she could only apply pressure and pray for her ex-husband to show up. 

Her failures were stacking up, like dominos that had been on a teetering edge for years were all finally coming down in a cascade. Matriarch, she thought again. Gram’s power, determination, and grit made her a witch everyone had feared and the Halliwell who spoke for generations. They were flower-child boots nobody could ever fill. Maybe Prue had come close, and no matter how Piper tried to be assertive and the boss b/w-itch, she nearly lost another sister tonight. A sister who with nearly a dying breath had saved them all. A sister who had fewer years of magic under her belt but an independence and thirst for knowledge that put her to shame. And Phoebe, who they’d called out for being irresponsible, reckless, and selfish so many times when they were young, was the only one making sense, seeing nuance, and keeping a cool head in the chaos. It was like everyone was growing but she was growing backwards.

 When even Leo comes to check up on her afterward, to reassure her she’s a good witch, one who made a mistake due to misinformation and would have never intended to… She knew all that logically, but none of it mattered. It didn’t erase the look on Chris’ face engraved in her memory. She never intended, but she still did. She saw equal guilt and confusion in Leo’s eyes. He was unmoored and scared and clutching onto the last straws of action he could hold onto, while forced into the elder role away from his family. Even if those straws were wrong, it was something. She wanted to hate him, hate Chris for making this so complicated, hate herself, but only the latter she could do. “You have to let him go,” she insisted. 

He closed his eyes. He knew. “I can’t.” His hand tightened around hers.

“Taking him out won’t bring us back.”

“Won’t it?”

“Are you still an Elder?”

“He made…”

“And now you are.” She squeezed his hand back. “When Prue died, all I wanted was to fix it - bring her back. You taught me I couldn’t and that I could only move on. You were my peace then and…” she hadn’t been at peace since he left. The loss stung, like Leo had been the only band-aid keeping her grief and anger manageable. She had been out of control. “We cannot… When the titans attacked you said we didn’t need you. You were wrong.”

“Piper, you did defeat…”

She shook her head. So much more had helped them. Leo’s words. Chris’ information. And then they both fucked her over with the emotions spell and Valhalla. None of it mattered. “We need you. But this is not the you we need. Maybe you were always meant to be an Elder, regardless of Chris’ interference. And we don’t work well with Elders.”

Leo was silent. His hand released and pulled back. She tried to not focus on the dwindling warmth and cold breeze.

“Taking him out won’t bring us back,” Piper repeated. “You are not the man I married. And I am not…” her voice broke. She forced down the sob and the familiarity when Leo couldn’t help but wrap her up in his arms for comfort.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry, you’re right…”

She shut him up with a kiss. Leo was great at reassuring her with words, but right now she just wanted to feel and not think. One last goodbye.

Chris had been alone for years. He’d never had a father, he’d lost his mother and aunts, and he never was good at making friends. (He’d only had and needed his brother.) He hadn’t needed them to build the rebellion, he’d managed alone. They hadn’t managed to prevent Wyatt from becoming evil before, so why could they now?

The underworld was as familiar to him as the streets of San Fransisco were. When the demons ruled the overworld and heavens, it had been almost safer to hide in the places they had abandoned. Now, the demons filled this place like rats in an overflowing trash can.

Most of them were no bother. His powers weren’t as strong as his brother’s or the sisters’, but Chris could hold his own. Telekinesis reflected attacks, created weapons, defended. He wasn’t bad with improvising spells or brewing potions either. Within a few days, he’d marked out a corner of hell for himself, to set up a decent camp and only orbing up whenever he needed supplies or check something in the book.

If the sisters wouldn’t help him, he’d find whoever turned Wyatt himself. The distance would be better for everyone.

The demons fell before him one after the other, crossing off his list of suspects. Some gave him trouble, but field medicine was something he’d gotten equally familiar with years ago (Another thing he’d tried to use to bond with his absent father to no avail). His list got shorter, but it also meant he was running out of leads.

He wouldn’t call himself overconfident often. If anything, he was always paranoid and felt massively inferior, always being compared to his brother and aunts. Just confident, mostly. Fairly, right? The sisters were powerful, but these versions of them were not the superwitches he thought they were.

But the beginnings of them were there.

The moment he landed in the attic to take one step towards the book, lights flared up around him. Crystals in a pentagram entrapped him. Panic set in as his breathing quickened. Being caught in the manor brought back terrible memories.

Paige popped up from behind the couch with a cheerful cry and Phoebe ran into the room, a blaring alarm in hand.

Paige held out her hands placatingly. “Chris, we just want to talk.”

“We’ve been so worried,” Phoebe added. “Everything happened so fast.”

Chris rolled his eyes. He pushed all the panic down and sent them both an unimpressed look.

“What happened was awful,” Paige continued. “And we do want to help.”

Phoebe nodded enthusiastically. “If you tell us what’s really going on we can…”

Chris flicked his index finger and moved one of the crystals. All the lights of the cage flickered out immediately, replaced by the glow of his orbs leaving. He still heard their last comments to each other before he was back in the underworld.

“Okay, so he’s got telekinesis…”

“I couldn’t feel anything from him anymore.”

When he landed back in the grimy sand and darkness, he took a moment to orient himself. All his defensive instincts told him to not orb back to his hideout directly when fleeing, always circle around. So he’d just gone down with no particular direction.

He tried to calm his heart rate. With a few practiced breaths, he released the anxiety to ground and think.

That’s when he heard breathing that wasn’t his. Deep, loud, bristly breathing, right behind him.

Chris spun around and immediately jumped back to avoid a large axe swung at him. The large figure continued to chase him, axe circling above their head to come down at the witch intruder. It was much faster than Chris, and only through telekinesis forcing the axe to go off-course did it miss. Chris rolled out of the way as the demon pulled the axe back out of the stone it had embedded into. The weapon had come down with a heavy force judging by the sound it made, but the demon picked it up like it was featherlight.

Not planning to stay a moment longer than necessary, Chris tried to orb. A clawed hand struck out and grabbed him by the neck, only to throw him on the ground again. Dust kicked up and in the darkness blocked all sight. The sharp sound of the metal streaking down followed, and Chris reflected the blade to the side once again.

With a curse at the fact that witchlighter orbing requires you to stay still for a moment while whitelighter orbing moves immediately, Chris reached into his pocket. He blindly threw one of his powerful potions forward and heard it shatter. He quickly got to his feet and staggered back, blinking the sand out of his eyes.

The demon was still there. Flames licked up its arms, illuminating broad shoulders, horns curling through long red hair, and the dark metal axe in its hands. Then the flames died out and Chris was still its target.

He ran. Heavy footsteps chased him.

It’s fine. Potions didn’t work, his powers just bought time, but time was all he needed. He could think while he ran and make up some spell. Analyze the target, find weaknesses, then destroy.

He dodged another swipe of the blade. Looking ahead and not running into a dead end in the maze of the underworld was taking up more mental energy to leave any for spellcasting.

“Demon of ax’ed blade

Endless metal tirade

If you will not combust,

Then now forever rust. ”

The blade clanged against the wall right beside his head. The metal flaked a little brown, but he had to admit it wasn’t his best work. Spellwriting without paper first is hard! Damn, he missed Google and RhymeZone.

Chris circled around the demon to dash backward, at least knowing the maze they’d just come from. The demon was getting angry and impatient, which usually left openings, but Chris found himself similarly exhausted.

Fuck this. This one wasn’t even on the list of prospects, or a minion of one. Just some rando. He wasn’t going out to a lesser demon, even if they had resistances.

Chris set his feet down in the sand and breathed deep, before throwing out a big telekinetic wave. The demon flew back, knocking into the wall it’d just had Chris pinned to. He tried to focus on his breathing and holding his power forced out, against the demon’s struggling. There was a reason Chris didn’t use his powers like this frequently. He didn’t have enough power to kill demons with it, maybe to crush a humanoid heart, and it quickly exhausted him. He needed strategy, quick short efficient uses of his powers, and couldn’t rely on brute force.

He felt the pressure in his lungs building up as the demon continued to fight. A headache was forming behind his eyes and his hands trembled. The fury was still here. The desperation. He was not falling to a lesser demon, not while he still had work to do.

For a moment he faltered as the exhaustion shook him out of his stance. The demon fell to its feet and immediately charged forward. Chris shoved back once more, energy burning up his arms. The demon slammed back into the wall, dangling inches off the ground.

All he needed was a moment. To think. To find some other weapon. To survive. If he’s not there, Wyatt and everyone in the future would… no. He couldn’t let that happen.

The energy around his wrists crackled. A glow of orbs lit up the room and blue lightning shot from his hands, spreading over the wave of telekinetic force. The bolt struck the demon. Shaking and screaming, the demon was suspended in the air, rising higher.

Chris pulled his hands back in shock. The demon dropped and crumpled to a heap on the ground.

Lightning. That’s new.

That’s…

Elder powers.

Leo’s an Elder now before Chris was…

The immediate disgust at the realization of what must have happened up above was mixed with relief. He’d had no time for worrying about that deadline down here. And for now, this could be useful.

The demon shakily rose to his feet and roared.

Chris shoved his hand forward again, reaching for that fury.

Nothing.

With a laugh, the demon charged, blade raised.

If only he could have gotten an orb-shield instead. He reached his hands out again uselessly. “Come on!” The blade was coming at him fast and his legs were shaky. If he took one step, Chris might crumble.

The glint of metal and the demon’s toothy grin were too close. He had so much left to do. For a moment, the child in him wanted to reach out through the link that had been established in his mind so long ago and call for the help he knew would always be there in the blink of an eye. But his big brother was little now. And imagining baby Wyatt in front of that blade, even with the orb-shield the baby could conjure, was more than he could handle. He would save him. Even if Bianca had warned him: stop him if he can’t save him. He refused to use his brother as a sacrifice for his own life.

Sparks.

The soft crackling in the palm of his hand grew brighter. Chris raised his hand. The demon’s ashes mingled with the dust on the ground. A large burn mark brandished the cave wall.

Survival. Protection. That’s the fuel for the Elder’s lightning power. Not anger. The righteous bastards.

When Chris managed to get up from his own collapsed exhausted heap and orbed to his camp, he planned out a route. A day of practice on his own for reliable calling on his power. Another dark night for target practice on minions. A morning of experimenting with adjusting the voltage, to see if he could last longer by using weaker bolts (He couldn’t. The lightning went all-out or not at all, and after a few uses left him drained). Combining it with telekinesis proved challenging, but its general strength was increased. He could target more enemies, send them flying farther, and deflection that had been a battle of will against the opponent was now easier.

His strategy changed, incorporating his new power. Escape routes and quick assassinations with new stronger firepower became the norm. Soon he was leaving demon dust and scorch marks in higher dens.

In the back of his mind, he weighed how Wyatt’s Twice-Blessed shield would stand up against a half-Elder. Even if this didn’t work, even if Wyatt couldn’t be saved, maybe this was the balance shift the rebellion needed. If only to subdue him.

Because he still can’t hate his brother.

Chapter Text

The rinkling of orbs coming down had Piper jump up. She ruffled her skirt down, checking her belly, even if she knew she wasn’t showing yet. Phoebe and Paige assured her nobody could tell, but Piper still felt like Leo would know instantly.

The orbs formed into her ex-husband, still in those cursed beige robes. He gave her an awkward smile and bounced on his feels, hands clasped in front.

“Hello,” she greeted back. He looked calmer than the last few times she’d seen him, not constantly on edge and ready for any attack. Still, there were clear nerves.

“Hi, Piper. You’re…” He looked her over, then quickly away and around. “Are your sisters home?”

Piper raised an eyebrow. The Elders could sense where they were at any time, so clearly Leo must know, but it was an out. She loudly called for the other women.

Footsteps ran down the stairs and Phoebe excitedly tackled Leo in a hug. “Hi! Leo!” She grinned widely, looking back at Piper. “Did you…?”

“Not yet,” Piper hissed. Phoebe’s face fell into an ‘oops my bad’ and she stepped back. “I was going to…”

She was interupted by more orbs forming into the youngest sister. Paige gave Leo a more suspicious look, then back at Piper, and schooled her face into a more neutral smile. “Heya. Clouds getting boring?”

Leo chuckled awkwardly, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed to. He walked past them, leading them all to the living room like he still lived there. “I unfortunately…” The sisters took their seats around the room as Leo continued pacing a bit. “I come bearing news.”

Piper resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course.

“So does Piper…” Phoebe whispered. Piper glared her into silence.

Paige snorted a laugh but urged Leo on to continue. “We don’t have to fight the next big thing trying to take over the world again, do we?”

“No…” Leo said high-pitched and uncertain. “Someone else has taken up the job. Someone’s been hunting demons. A lot of demons in a very quick timeframe.”

“Isn’t that good?” Paige asked. Phoebe agreed they could use the break.

“Using Elder powers,” Leo added.

“Oh. That’s… new. Like an imposter or is an Elder going rogue and finally getting off their asses?”

Leo looked at Paige disapprovingly, but she just shrugged. “Elders keep watch over the grand design. We cannot directly interfere…”

“Elders have interfered plenty,” Piper argued.

“…or at least they’re not supposed to. It goes against the natural order. It can tip the balance of good versus evil by an Elder using their - our power for violence. The Elders are not only afraid that if an Elder were to act this way, it could change the very nature of our magic and world, but also…”

“Like the Nexus being controlled by evil,” Phoebe guessed. “That flipped the power balance.”

Leo nodded. “Yes. Additionally, since we have found no pattern to these attacks yet and so many powerful demons are falling quickly, it is creating a power vacuum. Territories and lower demons are flocking into bigger collectives. They’re then being taken over by the fewer remaining powerful demons, forming… well… the next big thing trying to take over the world again.”

“So even if our enemies are infighting it’s still bad for us?” Phoebe groaned.

“Unfortunately,” Leo confirmed. “As for who, we don’t know.  We’re getting information from secondhand sources and powerspikes, but most of it is happening in the underworld out of our view. It could be an impostor, but it is unprecedented for a demon to mimic Elder's powers and magical residue like this. And in case it is an Elder… We are confining ourselves to the heavens while this is being investigated. Then any untoward action from our side will be more difficult and obvious.”

The sisters sighed. “Of course.” Piper rested her hand on her belly. Any idea of telling him was shelved. Knowing him, Leo would surely break curfew to see her and monitor the baby’s growth, only to be marked as suspicious by the other Elders.

It would also mean no healing emergency calls for the foreseeable future.

“Any news on Chris?” Paige asked as if reading Piper’s thoughts.

Leo shook his head. “I’ve been… searching.”

Piper started to give him a stern look about his obsessive hunt, but there was something different - something tired - in his eyes. The hint of worry and concern that had been suspicion and blame first. Still obsession, but a switch was flipped. She believed she knew when.

“He’s a child,” Piper had exclaimed. The bubble of peace and happiness had only lasted so long before the argument had started again.

 Leo had stared at the sheets. “He’s a soldier.”

“That’s worse.”

Leo had that look he sometimes had at night, both far away and in deep concentration, remembering the war. Like he wasn’t truly there with her anymore. “Yeah,” he agreed. “It is.”

He hadn’t stayed long. Between the yelling and fighting and searching ever since he returned from Valhalla, there had been little time to reflect. To rest. To calm down and process.

Piper had forced him to take a good look at himself again. We need you. But this isn’t the you we need. We don’t work well with Elders.

“The you we need”. He knew who that was once. Who was he now?

He wanted to laugh at himself for his stupidity. “Our love raised me so high it could only lead here,” he’d told her when he accepted his position. Elders were above. He was an Elder. Above whitelighter. Above a father and a husband. Above the Charmed Ones. Above the Grand Design. Above the needs and wants of Leo.

But who was he below all that?

The wind on top of the Golden Gate Bridge whipped through his robes. The gust snapped the fabric against his skin and there was screaming. All around. Endless echoes of those long gone and always present when he closed his eyes. Wind whizzing like bullets. People crying for help. Sand under his boots and scratching open his face. Cracked dried nails sticky with blood of unknown origin. Weight of a weapon in his hands and the weight of lives on his shoulders.

He was eighteen, fighting for his land, fighting an enemy, fighting for his friends, fighting to save lives.

He ran from the medic ’s tent. He left his friends to find others in need.

His friends hated him, and believed themselves betrayed. It had to be done.

The determination to a goal that was greater than yourself. The constant fear. The desperation and drive to do anything. Guilt no matter what you do because you can’t do it all.

The impact and shrapnel — then nothing.

Blades, shields, bamboo bars. Fight for your life. Fight for your family.

Desperation. Clear goals. Survival. Action. Fight the enemy.

One foot in front of the other, never stop. They ’ll get away. They’ll catch up - no time for your mind to.

As an Elder, he should see the nuance, the bigger picture, the perspectives. But from up that high, it’s so easy to miss the equally important details on the ground: all the individuals that make up that beloved Grand Design.

Below, he was a person. He was a medic, a veteran, a soldier. Someone who was better when caring for others than caring for himself. He was at his core, human. And humans make dumb, costly, and destructive mistakes when afraid. In fight, flight, or freeze, we become tunnel-visioned and desperate for our and our loved ones’ survival.

He’d been stuck back in the cycle of fear.

Chris still was.

Maybe Leo wasn’t the best Elder, but he’d made a damn great whitelighter. He couldn’t undo his mistakes, there were no excuses, but he could own up to his actions. He couldn’t fully shred the doubt that Chris could still be a threat, but he could extend the hand that had reached Leo so long ago. Not a second chance, but a third. For both of them.

If only future whitelighters didn’t learn to block sensing.

“It’s a murder spree.” The guards seemed caught between glee and worry. “I’d almost be proud of how ruthless it is, but it’s also kind of like stealing our thing, you know?”

“I know. It’s a waste. Don’t even seem to revel in it. Just lightning and leave.”

Chris suppressed a smile at the lovely reputation he was getting. It was funny how every time he actually got known for something, it was generally anonymous. Additionally, the fact that demons were grouping up and more alert to his tactics made his missions harder. He’d been forced to reconsider strategies and mix it up. Maybe if Bianca had been with him the variety could have been fun, but monotone efficiency was preferred when there was a ticking clock to his birth in the back of his head.

He got the blades he stole from his previous vanquishes ready, floating them up with telekinesis. A short flight would have them pin the guards to the walls, silent, but not dead. The maze to their Queen was next.

“The traitor. I knew you couldn’t trust a deal with them.”

Chris quickly pulled the blades back. He plucked them from the air, listening.

“No, you didn’t. You were all like‘knew they couldn’t be that pure, they were going to join us sooner or later.’”

“Exactly. Did they really think an Elder would keep their word? Those uppity high horses don’t think of us as anything. Certainly not something to be honest about. We’re expendable.” 

An Elder was making deals down here?

“Carl, we literally respawn at Her feet. We are expendable.”

“It still sucks!”

Dozens of new theories swarmed the witchlighters head. Had he been looking at this all wrong? He of all people knew the Elders could be selfish and arrogant, but he never thought he should have been looking up instead of down for his targets.

He needed more information. However, the guards had returned to squabbling, their mandibles clacking and red flaring between their chitin-plated exteriors.

Chris orbed right in front of them, hands up. Their spears were pointed at him immediately. “Just a whitelighter come to talk,” he said quickly. 

The guards looked at each other confused.

“Heard there’s talk about…” One stabbed forward. Chris orbed, reappearing a few feet to the side. “…our rogue Elder?”

Frustrated, the other guard charged too. The spear once again only hit orbs.

Chris sighed when he reappeared. “Help me find them. They stop killing you and we catch our renegade. Win-win.”

The guards hesitated. One spoke up, “We just got betrayed by one of yours, you could do the same.”

“I’m just a whitelighter. What am I going to do? Sparkle you to death?”

“Send witches at us.”

“Doesn’t that already happen? In fact, we could put a temporary stop to that. Allow you to recover your numbers. For the Grand Design and all.” Chris smiled sweetly.

The guards exchanged a silent conversation. Then one of them leaned his head back and chittered loudly, mandibles vibrating with the frequency of their hive. Moments later, another trill was spread out over the maze in response.

The second guard never took his eyes off Chris and nodded. “She will see you. Follow us.”

Chris smirked. “Oh, I will.” He stabbed the guard in the heart. When the demon dissolved into smoke, Chris grabbed on and orbed to hitch a ride straight back to the Queen.

 They hit the ground hard, tumbling to a stop on uneven flooring. Chris groaned and rolled over to see at least six spears pointed at him.

“Unnecessary,” the guard he’d followed grumbled.

A deeper resonating voice spoke out, “I would not recommend trying that again.”

Hands up, Chris got to one knee before the Queen. “Never, Majesty. I simply wished to respect your time.”

She harrumphed in displeased agreement. Wind and dirt kicked up when she moved to cross one of her many legs over another. Chris dared look up and she was larger than any book had described. He bowed his head deep, and spoke with deference, “We’ve heard much of your grand network, how you’ve bound so many souls and demons to you. If we had any chance of finding our turncoat, you would have the answers.” He’d in fact learned about her network in looking for demons who bound people to their will in a, truly bottom-of-the-list, theory for Wyatt’s turning. Now he wouldn’t turn down an opportunity. “You must have spies everywhere.”

“I do.” She leaned forward, and her many eyes peered over her. “And with all of them, I can see through your sweet words, angel. We do not like your kind here. Unless…” A sharp pincer from one of her arms touched his temple. “You’re willing to… share, into this grand network? You’ll immediately have the knowledge you seek.”

Chris looked through her smile too and dropped the pretenses, standing up. “We both know neither wants that.” Her smile turned into a sour grin, and she leaned back into her throne. “But we do share a goal.”

“So you say.”

“I cannot kill you. You cannot kill me; I can orb faster than your workers can strike. But the Elder can kill many of your children in the time it would take us to find our mutual target without your help.”

A loud hiss started from the Queen, then spread over all the workers and guards surrounding him to a deafening echo. The sound was overwhelming. His hands reached to block his ears, but it wasn’t enough. The sound pierced through his conscience and his vision blurred.

As quickly as it started, the racket was gone.

“We do not need you, whitelighter,” the Queen said. “And I wouldn’t be so confident.”

The ringing continued in his ears, but Chris forced himself to stand up straight. “I’m confident,” he gritted out. Then revealed his hand. “I’m confident it still requires energy of you to bring your forces back to you.” She sneered. It wasn’t common knowledge in this time how the Queen brought her minions back. “Now, you clearly have reason to be confident as well. You’ve collected power, evidently.” He gestured to the throne she was squeezed in and how she hunched to fit under the canopy of the room. “But if you can grow, you can shrink. And since we’ve learned of your trove, it won’t be long before our rogue Elder targets you.”

The shriek and roar of anger almost made Chris orb out before it was too late. But gaining the knowledge of the Queen’s Collective would be a guiding light in his needle-in-a-haystack search.

Finally, quiet resettled over the maze.

“Your Grand Design,” the Queen spat. “Your Elders. You’ve made promises before. One preached a similar deal as you to other demons: a danger to both sides was approaching. Too powerful for either side to control. Impossible to coexist with the balance of all things. A risk not worth taking for no one but itself.”

Chris’ legs nearly gave out. So it was true. An Elder was after Wyatt. “The Twice-Blessed.”

“Yes,” she trilled. “The one prophesized to end the war between Good and Evil. One Elder believes he will end the whole world with it and wants to prevent the prophecy at any cost. The other will not only gladly take the risk but is actively opposing anyone or anything that attempts to prevent it.”

Maybe the lightning had spread to his brain. Chris fully short-circuited for a moment. “The other?”

“Oh yes,” the Queen eased back into her seat, tilting her head curiously. “The first has only been seen in shadows, mostly invisible as Elders tend to do, seen only briefly by my spies. The other is asking questions constantly, not above getting physical or threats to get the answers he wants. Less… subtle.”

Chris swallowed a deep groan. Identifying the first Elder would be a problem due to the invisibility. It was a power Chris had unfortunately not inherited (he’d tried). Instead, he reached for a power he did have; whitelighters couldn’t go invisible, but they could manifest their orbs to alter their appearance.

A fashion show it was.

First, Chris turned his visage into that of his father.

The Queen blinked some of her eyes in amusement. “Yes, that’s one bothering my workers.”

“Ignore him,” Chris sighed and mentally started cataloging every Elder he’d ever met. “Now for the other…”

Paige groaned to herself when the orb alarm went off. Again. Her and Phoebe’s little pet project had worked as intended exactly once, and even then, without real results. Now it was just another jingle in her head annoying her at all hours of the day. Still, she kept it up.

If anyone knew what was happening in the underworld with the power vacuum and the rogue Elder, it would be Chris. They still believed him to be hiding out there since scrying still wasn’t working. Also, they just wanted to see him.

The alarm, however, activated to Chris less than 1% of the time, to Leo 2%, to Paige 10% and the rest belonged to Wyatt. With its full cry-wolf activity, Paige had tuned its sensitivity to only full teleportation rather than any item orbing. She still had to reset it manually each time she came home or unthinkingly orbed between floors. It had never pinged for Chris again since the one time they’d caught him.

They’d almost turned it off and honestly, Paige was one more false alarm away from doing so.

But this wasn’t Paige orbing. And Wyatt was downstairs in his playpen. Unless the system was still sensitive enough for orbing his big teddy.

Paige orbed to the attic (what was it gonna do? The alarm was already going off anyway), expecting to find her nephew running away from bathtime.  Instead, she caught sight of a larger form orbing away from the book.

There was no chance of catching Chris in a crystal trap or anything like it anymore. They knew that. The only chance they had of talking to him was when Chris decided they would talk. Still, Paige smugly turned the alarm off and walked back to the book.

It was opened on the page on the Elders. Beside it was the notebook they always kept ready near the book for making notes or writing spells. As expected, the top page was ripped out by its last user.

Paige flipped to the next page in the notebook and smiled. Carbon paper had done its job masterfully. Beneath it, all of Chris’ handwriting was copied perfectly. Since Chris always stayed as briefly as he could, she had expected he’d try to squeeze all his notes into one page. She also knew he always used this notebook as a draft before copying his neat notes somewhere else to his own mini spellbook he kept with him.

The page contained the working draft of an invisibility spell, a short list of demons, and another longer list of names Paige wasn’t familiar with. A quick search through the book didn’t reveal the origin of the names, but happy enough with her results, Paige orbed downstairs to call her sisters.

The alarm went off again immediately. With a frustrated groan, she orbed back to turn it off again.

“So we think Chris is disguising himself as an Elder and killing demons?” Phoebe summarized. Wyatt babbled back, as usual excited to hear Chris’ name. The nursery was not an ideal place for demon-talk, but someone had to watch him, and neither of his parents were reachable.

Paige shrugged. “Has to be, right?” She shook a toy in Wyatt’s vicinity to distract him.

“But why?”

“He’s obsessed with hunting demons. He’s no longer recruiting us for it, so he’s found another way.”

Phoebe grimaced. “I guess. Still, something feels off.” She flipped the page over again in her hand as if something would appear on the back of it with more clues.

Paige nodded. “This can’t be healthy.” She remembered her full-witch demon drive, and how enthusiasm can lead to dangerous mistakes. Her full-human spree with the temp jobs hadn’t been effective either. She was still working out the correct balance, but she at least knew for sure that Chris’ work-life balance was awfully wrong, if there even was a ‘life’ part to it. “At least we know he’s alive.”

“Thank God.” Phoebe stroked over Wyatt’s hair. “I wonder how he’s doing it.”

“Me too. So, should we tell Piper?”

Phoebe pulled her hand back and went to sit down further from the baby as if he then couldn’t hear them discussing his mother.

Piper had been… strange. Awkward to live around. She’d understandably taken some time away from witch duties to focus on her pregnancy, but had surprised them both by announcing she’d be going to therapy. Specifically, grief counseling and anger management. Neither of them was surprised that Piper had a temper and badly processed grief, but they were shocked to hear her admit it, let alone do something about it. Her sisters were trying to be supportive, taking over any magical requests that came their way and babysitting more than usual. Though progress was being made, Piper was exhausted, irritable, and sad all the time now. Phoebe said that was normal, that processing heavy events in therapy could make symptoms worse before they got better. The pregnancy couldn’t be helping either, but no one dared say that out loud.

The subject of Chris, however, had both changed dramatically and stayed the same. As in, Piper was still incredibly touchy about him, to the point that she hadn’t only asked them to stop bringing him up but also to stop their attempts to catch the witchlighter. Her reasons had changed. Something about how “we can’t force him into a conversation for our selfish guilt-abiding apologies if he’s not ready. It won’t make him forgive us if we force it, and we can’t force him to forgive us in the first place”.

Paige had mentally rescinded her support. The therapy-speak was making Piper annoying and lose the bigger picture: they couldn’t let the man go on a suicide mission. Sooner or later, he was going to run himself into the ground. She believed the best apology was to actually help the guy. Even if they had to force him to accept their help. Hell, he’d forced them to help him frequently enough during his time as their whitelighter. Really, it was only fair.

Phoebe, frustratingly, agreed with Piper. She was still on board with gathering information on the witchlighter through attempted scrying and ploys, but only when he wouldn’t know, and they weren’t forcing him into anything. She was convinced Chris would return, they’d talk it out, and they’d help him with whatever his problem was. Everything was going to be fine. Paige argued that he wasn’t going to willingly return. She spoke from experience as a teen who had lost her parents, her safe space, her anchor. She knew what it was like to be alone and needed to be independent. Chris had written them off. Phoebe spoke from the perspective of someone who’d always had a home and family to return to, no matter the fight or risk. She didn’t understand that when you’re alone, you assume you need to do everything alone and think others will only hold you back.

The Halliwells had reminded Paige what family and unconditional support were like. Now it was her turn to pay it forward.

She left Phoebe to watch Wyatt and promised to search for the names some more. Phoebe nodded with a smile. In the attic, Paige did go to the book. She flipped to the back of her notebook where her drafts of the telepathy spell were. It wouldn’t stay long, just a message back and forth, but one he’d be less likely to block than their normal surely muted whitelighter-charge communication.

Chris, it’s Paige. Would he know that immediately? She’s not sure. She keeps it in her drafts. We’re worried. No, he’ll just roll his eyes. We know you’re hunting demons. Well, obviously he is. Whether he’s the one the Elders are worried about is only a theory. I want to help - He won’t care. If you want some company hunting demons — He probably has plenty of plans that don’t involve people tagging along. You left the book open on — He’ll never come by again.

She sighed and twirled her pen. Fuck it.

Her voice echoed with magic. “Chris, it’s Paige. Someone’s been tearing through the Underworld. Nice work. Temp jobs got me itching, any of your list I can help with?”

I respect you and your work, and I know you enough to recognize it. I will hide my intent to help you behind selfish farces and a witching drive you ’ll respect, so you’ll accept it. 

She hoped it went through.

Silently, she waited. One. Two. Three. She tapped her pen impatiently against the book. The buzzing of the spell faded from the back of her mind. No response.

Then orbs came down. Eagerly Paige circled the book and stopped when the orbs coalesced. Leo.

Paige frowned and leaned back. “Aren’t all Elders grounded right now?”

Leo shifted uncomfortably on his feet. His robes flopped around when he did the nervous arm wave thing. Elders really needed to invest in tailors. “Yeah?”

“… Okay. So. I called Chris. Are you tapping his frequency now?”

“… Maybe.” Leo looked around, sensing, as if hoping Chris would still appear.

Paige looked him over. The nervous energy wasn’t hostile or defensive, like any other time Leo had anticipated Chris’ presence. He seemed equally eager as her. “Still trying to hunt him down?”

“No.” That answer was much quicker than his previous two.

She smiled. “Good. Wanna scratch a few names off his list to help him out?”

Leo nodded, his face determined. Like a weight lifted off her chest, Paige finally recognized her brother-in-law again. She took out Chris’ notes and showed Leo the list of names.

Leo’s face paled in recognition.

Chapter Text

“Sloppy,” Chris mutters.

His dark reflection grins. “Gotcha.”

It had been easier than he expected to simply orb into Magic School and walk into Gideon’s office. Sure, he’d had to dispel two locks, but nobody cared that a stranger was walking around. His orbs showing up first had put everyone at ease. They’d just nodded in respect to the whitelighter and went on their way. Security was extremely lax. They hadn’t needed it. Magic School was a sanctuary, protected by the Elders. Even if its Headmaster hadn’t been seen for quite a while.

Inside, Gideon’s office was pretty much as he remembered it the few (many) times he’d been sent to the principal. Endless bookcases, gaudy furniture, always active projects left open. The mirror behind the curtain was new. Or maybe he was now strong enough to see past the illusions that hid it, just like the ones hiding the real titles of the books on the desk. “He was getting careless.”

“And we’re just getting closer.” His reflection sounds so eager and pleased it almost destroyed the pleasure Chris himself felt at finding his target. It reminded him too much of Wyatt, his world’s Wyatt, and how easily it could have been him instead. Just a flimsy thin mirror between his morals and his falling off.

The books were innocent by themselves, but it was the picture that they painted together that was worrying. Alternate dimensions. Darklighter magic. The balance of good and evil. Prophecies. Imbuing magic into artifacts. History on events that had pushed the scales of morality. The nexus and its influence on those born near it. So many books he’d poured over himself that described all those demons, cults, and other influences that could turn one to the other side.

Wyatt Wyatt Wyatt.

“If only he’d paid a fraction of the attention he turned on Wyatt on us,” his reflection mused, “he might have stopped the brother who would actually defeat him.”

Defeat an Elder. He swallowed down the bile at the thought. He had no love for the Elders, but whatever ‘defeating’ one entailed still felt wrong to a point. Just to a point. It wasn’t out of the question yet. If he even could… “We’re part Elder now,” Chris said.

“And part Charmed legacy.” Would it be strong enough?

Chris started gathering all the books and notes into his bag as evidence. Nobody would really believe him. If it came to a trial for his recycling - after accusing an Elder of all people - of this plot he stood no chance. His word against Gideon. The manipulative lying whitelighter from the future against the prestigious beloved Head of Magic School. He didn’t even have the Halliwell name to back him up.

“It doesn’t matter if they believe us,” his reflection said, the joy gone from his voice.

Chris nodded. “We just have to stop him.”

“Even if it costs us.”

“That has always been what it was going to be.”

He looked back at the mirror. He’d learned about them in class. Never seen one, but he knew they were supposed to be portals to a world where morality was flipped. Angels were demons, agony was joy, the underworld was a sanctuary. He should be worried that he found himself so easily agreeing with his other self. A reflection of how close Chris always found himself on the edge of good and evil, toeing the line. There’s not much to flip on the border itself.

“I almost wonder if he taught that class,” the other Chris mused. “Don’t remember.”

Chris chuckled and mock-impersonated the teacher. “’Such a rarity, a dangerous artifact that must be kept far away.’”

“In his own office.” Mirror Chris flicked his wrist and summoned a crossbow, readying it towards where the door would be in his world. Footsteps slowly passed. Time was running out. “Hypocrite.”

“He’s an Elder,” Chris sighed.

His next words echoed, “What did we expect?”

The Chris in the mirror grinned broadly, excited at the prospect of what they had to do. The expression was so unfamiliar on his face, like uncanny-valley. They would do what they had to do, but Chris wouldn’t enjoy it.

He felt the jitter of electricity building up his arms. The mirror was too dangerous to let be. Gideon likely needed it for whatever his plans were. It was time. All he’d worked for for years. He could do this. He was ready. But as he raised his hands to mirror, he hesitated.

“For all they know, we could’ve planted the books,” Chris said bitterly, mostly to himself.

His reflection continued his thoughts anyway. “This mirror is the only substantial evidence we have of his guilt.”

“They won’t take demon testimony.”

“They sure won’t take ours.”

“Mom… mom and the aunts aren’t backing us up.”

“We could never count on dear dad.”

Chris sighed. This was his last chance for redemption. To prove he was right. That he’d been fighting and slave-driving and being annoyingly neurotic and paranoid and never resting for a reason. Maybe they’d believe him. Maybe mom would hold him like she used to and be proud. Maybe he could go home and see the world he’d helped rebuild. Maybe he could have a family with Bianca if his won’t take him back.

His reflection met his eyes. They both already knew. There was only one redemption they needed. Just see it through. Everything just needed to be worth it. Results. Even if no one knew. Even if he never gets to see it.

The glass rained down around him. The mirror frame still stood, blackened, and bent out of shape against a brick wall.

Maybe it was better this way. He was broken, from a broken world. He would fix the world, but he wouldn’t fit in with it anymore. This world had proved that enough.

Piper immediately turned the oven off when she heard the familiar sound of orbs. Silence followed. Both her witch and parental instincts feared nothing more than silence. “Wyatt, honey?” she called towards the conservatory. “Did you orb something?”

Nothing.

She tossed her gloves. Baking cookies for therapeutic calming me-time only worked when there wasn’t a toddler around with active magic powers and a bounty on his head. “Paige?” she yelled, hopeful. “Was that you?”

Her sister appeared next to her in a flurry of blue. “What?”

One more possibility crossed off the list, Piper's anxiety only increased. She speed-walked to the conservatory.

“What’s up?” Paige asked, voice huffy and following quickly.

Piper looked her over. Her sister was a sweaty mess, holding her waist like she was fine and her shirt wasn’t cut and stained a familiar crimson. “Where did you come from?”

“Nowhere,” Paige answered quickly and falsely chipper.

Piper frowned but had no time to press further. Wyatt’s playpen was empty. Piper screamed and pointed at the horribly unsafe never-to-be-used-again child not-container. Paige’s panic kicked in too, frantically looking around if Wyatt hadn’t orbed too far. The breathing tech techniques Piper had learned failed her. Fear was even harder to control than anger. “It’s fine. He’s probably upstairs. Or Leo has him. Yes. Leo. He orbs.”

Paige’s wide eyes turned back to her. “It’s not Leo.”

“And how would you know…”

“Good, you’re here.” The sisters jumped and spun to the young man who appeared in the doorway. Piper gasped at the sight of Chris, standing healthy before them. Wyatt was on his hip, casually chewing on a stuffed animal’s wing. Chris looked even skinnier than before, and his hair was long and shaggy, but his posture and energy were better than they’d ever seen it. “Get Phoebe. Attic, now. Wyatt, shield.” Giving the sisters no time to answer, he orbed up.

Paige threw up her hands. “Hi hello to you too?” Then she pulled her head back as if insulted. “Don’t you—! You can jingle now?”

Piper grabbed her arm to make her focus. She pulled back carefully when Paige hissed in pain. “Get Phoebe, please,” Piper said softly. Paige nodded. This was a chance they couldn’t miss. Chris was here.

Paige orbed to retrieve the last of the Power of Three, rubbing at her inner ear.

She took the stairs two steps at a time. Finally, the landing cleared a view of the attic. Chris was surrounded by stacked books while switching between writing feverishly in his little notebook and preparing a spell ritual. Ingredients were going fast into the steaming bowl, flaring and puffing each time something was added. Wyatt was on the ground not too far away, shield up. Quite a few toys were spread around him that Chris must have brought to keep him entertained. The sight of his shield worried Piper immediately, but there seemed to be no immediate danger. In fact, the scene was familiar and made her heart ache with a longing she’d been forcing herself to face for the past months.

She’d missed Chris. Sure, he annoyed the hell out of her frequently with his neurotic overworking tendencies, but he also kept her going when Leo was gone and her sisters had temporarily moved out. He’d sit with his work on the counter while was cooking, an always eager guinea pig for recipes and helping. His smile was rare and frequently sad, but so genuine and bright when she managed to receive it, and he’d almost look his age instead of the war-hardened adult. He was clever, creative, and deeply knowledgeable, and when he got an idea his eyes sparkled in a way that knew she was about to be both mad and impressed, and she’d pitied whoever had to raise this rebellious teenager. She’d never admit it, but she respected and admired his work ethic at times. She hated how inferior it made her feel, yet so proud at the same time. The relationship was tumultuous and familiar. Prue.

The similarities to her late sister kept building up and her therapist suggested it might have attributed to her anger increasing to unjust levels. It wasn’t a healthy or fair projection. Grief, anger, and fear interlocked. Fear for Wyatt. Fear for loving or losing this imitation of Prue again.

She hadn’t been sure she could handle seeing Chris yet. It wasn’t his fault, or at least he hadn’t ever deserved her treatment of him. Even if he wasn’t entirely guiltless, she’d gone way too far. She just didn’t know how she’d react in the moment. What emotion would come to take the reigns? Which way would her powers flip? Even the last two weak demons she’d only been able to freeze as if her powers had fully reset to early days. Still, she wanted to talk. If Chris was willing to be here, she needed to seize the opportunity.

The question of whether she was ready went entirely out the window seeing him in his element, here in their attic. Like he belonged (A sure comfort and familiarity with her territory that had pissed her off just as much, and really only spoke of her insecurities).

She took a few steps forward after making sure Wyatt was safe and happy. A loud poof smoked up the room when Chris threw in yet another ingredient. She read over the labels and identified most of their purposes with confusion. She pointed out a few. “This was used in vanquishing the Source.”

“Yup.”

“Combined with… summoning… and… binding and…?” She found a small ziplock bag with white powder. “I don’t know this one.”

“Angel dust,” Chris answered, still absorbed in his work. “Name has some merit, I hear.”

Now, Piper had run a nightclub long enough to know the name. “How did you get…”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“And why?”

Chris sighed and put down his book. “No time. Where’s your sisters?”

“On their way. Chris…” she took another step forward to reach out. He quickly stood up, turning away to line up some vials. Piper took a deep breath, knowing she deserved the rejection. Maybe he hadn’t come here to talk yet after all.

She steeled herself. Maybe he didn’t want to talk, but she still had to apologize for so much and explain herself as best as she could. “Chris, I’m glad you…”

He turned away again, clinking the vials loudly, and shouldering her out of the way from the potion bowl.

Fine. Not yet. She glanced over the recipe. It was written in many different inks and frequent adjustments as if he’d been working on it for a very long time. Maybe they could talk and rebuild a professional relationship first. “If you want to combine Beetle Toe and cardamom you need fire for it to bind properly.”

He tapped the small scribble next to the ingredients on the page. “Did. Then turned off the heat to not lose jacklebeet potency.”

Someone had taught him well. “Well done. And with the oleander and toadflax…”

“Seeds only, crushed,” he said like he was reciting. Piper rested a hand on the back of his head like she used to calm Wyatt. Chris stiffened for a moment, then eased.

“Crushed?”

“Expresses its power better.” He smirked, proud that he could teach her something. She smiled back at his easy glee. As quickly as it came, his expression shut off again and he focused back on his notes.

She leaned over. “Billing’s root will negate rosemary. Binding spells don’t combine with summoning. Cancels the magic.”

“Fuck.” Chris shoved the table forward. “I don’t have time for another…”

“This potion and spell will still kill a God,” she assured him. And likely everyone in the room. The power potential was disturbing but profound. “But you’ll need a different way of summoning. So what are we summoning?”

He filled a vial, not answering.

“Chris, what are we preparing for that requires this?”

“Contingency.”

“For what?” He just grumbled in response. She swallowed the instinct to tell him to speak up properly. “I understand we have hurt…”

“All you need to understand,” Chris shoved a potion in her hands and moved on, “is that this will soon be over.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Piper said softly.

He just filled another vial and corked it. Orbs brightened the room and Phoebe and Paige started to materialize.

“It won’t,” Piper insisted quietly before her sisters could get close enough to hear. “There is nothing I can do to make up for everything we - I have put you through. But I’m not going to stop trying. You don’t have to forgive us. But I have to try. If anything, you taught us we can’t run from our responsibilities forever.”

He laughed mirthlessly. “I’ve taught you to be annoying, huh?”

She tilted her head with a mirror of his smirk. “Definitely.”

More orbs followed. Chris’ eyes widened as Leo appeared with the sisters. “What’s he doing here?”

“Chris,” Leo sighed in relief. “I’ve been looking…”

“Yeah, what else is new. Just don’t get in the way.” Chris bundled up his batch of potions and tossed them to Paige. She caught them with effort to keep them from spilling out.

Phoebe stepped forward, hands out to diffuse the tension. “What Leo means is that…”

“Don’t care,” Chris cut in. “Look, someone’s after Wyatt. I’ve been working a lead.” He started across the room, to where Wyatt was watching the scene with big eyes. His shield was still up, but Chris walked with purpose as if he knew the shield wouldn’t stop him. “I’m not crazy and I found him.”

“Nobody thinks you’re crazy,” Phoebe said at the same time as Paige asked, “Where? Who?”

Chris looked over his shoulder with a grateful look to Paige, the only one ever on his train of thought. “There’s an Elder in the Underworld, dealing with demons”

“Chris, you are the Elder in the Underworld attacking demons.”

“Well yeah, but dealing with as in…”

Bright blue light struck Chris in the side, cutting off his words with a pained shout. He flew back and crumpled against the wall beside Wyatt. A slash of dark sparks cut through Wyatt’s shield with a tearing sound. The baby cried loudly, but his shield shimmered and faded.

Everyone in the room reacted at once. Leo rushed forward the fastest, Chris’ name out his mouth with a plea to stay awake. He was barely two steps far before he froze, groaning in pain and practically vibrating to strain against whatever was holding him in place.

 Piper’s hands immediately shot out to freeze the room and their attacker, but the dark slash of an invisible blade kept moving, cutting a red line on her son’s shoulder.

“White dust!” Paige dropped the ziplock bag on the area, where it sizzled onto a humanoid shape. The unknown demon hissed in pain. Leo managed to move for a moment, before the shape brought up his arms into a clap and to the heavens, stilling Leo into a painful lock again.

 Phoebe flew by, spinning a kick towards the assailant. Her foot connected with a force wall and the crystals along the floor lit up. Phoebe quickly picked herself up from the floor, confused at the pattern neither she nor Paige had left the crystals in.

“I am truly sorry, Charmed Ones,” the stranger spoke calmly, eloquently, infuriatingly. He lifted Wyatt into his arms.

“You will be!” Piper raged against the wall. “Put him down or what we did to the Source will seem like kindness!” And Leo will heal you just so we can destroy you again and again and again.

Paige called for the crystals, but they stayed stubbornly in place, flashing a similar dark spark. She flinched and held a forming burn on her wrist.

“I learn from your mistakes,” the figure said smugly. “One day you will see and thank me. This has to be done for the Greater...”

Another bright light shot through the room. The stranger screamed as the electricity coursed through him. Behind him, Chris was slumped against the wall, but his hand was outstretched, sparks still gathering in his palm. The lightning faded when Chris dropped his hand, breathing heavily.

Now fully visible, the stranger lay on the ground as a lump of familiar white and beige robes, still holding Wyatt in his arms. Dark curly hair slowly lifted up as the Elder looked back at the exhausted ‘whitelighter’.

“Gideon,” Leo snarled. Paige gasped in recognition.

Gideon paid them no mind. He tilted his head in confusion at Chris, who was still glaring from his weak position. “You have… I see.” The Elder looked to Piper and Leo, who wore matching glares and threats of violence. With the snap of his finger, he turned invisible again, only to reappear at Chris’ side. One arm still securing Wyatt to his side, the other clasped down on Chris’ shoulder. He stared the family in the eye with his chin high. “The Charmed legacy is not sustainable to the Grand Design.”

“NO!” Channeling her fury and opposing everything she’d learned in anger management, Piper threw all her power at the barrier separating her from the boys. All the concentrated latent explosive power she’d been subconsciously locking away and saving burst forth violently.

The room filled with the sound of crystals shattering and they were plunged into darkness as all the power in the neighborhood went out. The only light was Gideon orbing himself, Wyatt, and Chris away, right before the attic gained a new skylight in their place.

Leo’s photokinesis lights flickered into being to the full sight of destruction. It’s fine. They’d fixed this home many times before. He’ll need a project if everything goes as planned. As long as the right people were there to live in the house, it would always be home, no matter the state. He just needed to get them back first.

His lights flickered dimly and back while he tried to control his breathing and anger. Focus. Big picture. Small details. He refused to tunnel vision again.

Even if his mentor was trying to kill his son and charge. Especially then. He needed to be fully conscious and in control for that retribution.

“I’m going to be sick,” Phoebe announced. “That disgusting… He felt so righteous. No care for...”

Paige patted her shoulder whilst trying to collect the shards of potion that covered the floor. They had shattered at Piper’s outburst like everything else, and Leo hoped there was any left. His ex-wife was searching over a ritual setup, scanning over notes and an empty bowl like it would contain answers. “Is it recoverable?” Piper asked.

Paige shook her head. “Nada.” She hissed when she stood up and Leo quickly went over to heal her wrist. The backlash enchantment on the crystals was effective but weak. Like Gideon really thought he wouldn’t be hurting the Charmed Ones by taking their baby and physically hurting them was over the line.

Piper folded the first page from the notebook into her pocket with frustration. “Then this is…” She breathed deeply, crossing her hands over her stomach. Then she looked up to Leo with a sweet smile. “Any ways to kill an Elder?”

“I’ve got ideas,” Leo grimaced, finishing up Paige’s heal.

She shook out her wrist and orbed the note from Piper’s pocket to test if her powers were back. She whistled when she read it. “Damn, Chris. That’s a power word kill.” The note was snatched back by Piper and Paige nodded to Leo. “Where did they go?”

Leo closed his eyes and reached out his senses. It was hard to focus past the alarm bells and warning calls from the other Elders. Leo! Usually Wyatt’s presence came to him easily, and unless Chris was actively hiding from him he wasn’t hard to find either. Return now. You are out of control. Gideon was someone he hadn’t searched for in a long time, but an essence that was so familiar regardless. This will not go without consequences. None of them popped up on the radar.

Leo. Leo, return now. What do you think you’re doing? We will be forced to take action if—

He cut the connection. “I can’t sense them. They must have gone to the Underworld.”

The women sighed in frustration. The underworld was a maze that refused scrying most of the time. Without information like known demon factions and kingdoms, that was a slow game of chase and playing hot-or-cold that they didn’t have time for.

They all startled when the potion bowl coughed up smoke loudly. Piper ignored them and continued to angrily chuck stuff into the bowl, following Chris’ writing. They didn’t have time for that either, but none felt safe enough to stop her. Leo itched to reach out, but even his words failed him in this helpless state. Gideon. Wyatt. Chris. How could…

Phoebe shuffled towards the new splintered hole in the wall. Her palms reached out towards the ashy stain on the floorboards. After a moment of focus, she fell back and plopped down exhausted. Her arms shook as if overexerted.

“You okay?” Paige sat down next to her, settling her arm around to comfort the middle sister.

Phoebe nodded. “He’s not, though. The lightning takes a lot out of him.” She looked over at Leo and back at Paige. “None of us knew he could do that, right?”

Paige shook her head. “I was wondering how he was impersonating an Elder, but I assumed he was using potions or spells and left no witnesses. Falsifying crime scenes, you know?”

“Yeah,” Phoebe shivered. “He was surprised too. Saw him kill a demon with it for the first time. Had to be after he left here. It felt recent.”

“Great.” Piper bit out. “Doesn’t help us find where he is.”

“Hey missy! Express, suppress, 6-second rule, remember?” Phoebe said. “Constructive communication, no passive aggressiveness.”

Piper growled and chucked the beetle toe. The bowl blew, knocking Piper back.

“Yeah, let’s go back to the therapy when the boys are safe,” Leo said before more infighting broke out. He helped Piper to her feet and carefully led her away from the explosive potions. “Phoebe, can you try to get a premonition from Gideon, specifically? If we can find out where he’s been, we can work out where he could have taken them.”

“I tried.” Phoebe’s shoulders sagged. “I’m not getting anything else.”

“Hey guys?” Paige perked up. She hesitantly stood up and glanced around at the others nervously. “So um. Chris is from only about twenty years or so into the future, right?” Leo nodded. “As much as I like the idea of witchlighters being more common, how common do you think witch-Elder hybrids are?” She looked pointedly at a ghostly pale Piper.

Phoebe screamed and rushed to reach Piper’s belly. Piper smacked her hands away, but Phoebe kept insisting. “He’s here to change the future. It’s changing. Maybe we can’t sense Chris, but we can sense baby Chris. No stronger anchor for magic than that.”

Phoebe’s voice seemed to fade in the distance as Leo’s ears pounded with a ringing. His head was faint and his legs wobbled. Baby Chris. He slowly lowered himself to the ground while Piper just kept staring at him. No denial. Just worry and apprehension. Somehow Leo had thought the Chris situation couldn’t get worse, that maybe he could one day make up for his horrible accusations to a stranger. But to his own son? So many things were put into perspective. Some suddenly made sense, others even less. Either way, he could feel the tunnel vision pulling at him, tempting him to drag Gideon to the depths of hell while Piper tucked the boys into safety… no. Swap roles. Let him hold his children and be sure they were safe, knowing Piper’s wrath would spare that man no mercy. No. He wanted to destroy… but he needed to protect —

“Leo?” Piper's voice brought him back. She looked down at him with concern and impatience. Her long dark hair fell forward over her shoulder, and she looked as beautiful as on their wedding day. She reached out a hand down to him. “I know this is a lot. I meant to tell you…”

He took her hand without a doubt. “Let’s get our boys back.”

Her face shifted to determination. When he got to his feet, he kept a tight grip on her hand. She tried to pull back for a moment, then her hand eased in his like it always had. His thumb brushed over hers. There was so much to say, but…

Paige’s hand smacked on top of theirs. “We orb together. Leo, you focus on baby Chris, I’ll try to use telekinetic orbing to steer us in the direction you point.”

“Does that work?” Phoebe asked, joining her hand with theirs. “Do you need some telepathy for communicating while orbing? I can try emphatic reflection.”

“What am I in this plan? Just a carrier?” Piper exclaimed.

Paige snorted. “You’re the bomb when we arrive.”

“Approved. Move it.”

The orb was a turbulent ride. They all stumbled, holding onto each other to stay upright when landing roughly on an uneven stone floor. Quickly orienting themselves, they hid behind a boulder and glanced into the cavern in front of them.

The tunnel behind them opened into a large sandy cave. For the Underworld, it was well-lit with floating candles like chandeliers. A thin stream of water cut through the cave, separating two arguing men. The one closer to them wore the muddied robes of an elder, the other wore a familiar black long coat, and his hair was silvered. To the Charmed Ones, one was a devil, the other was Barbas.

“How many times do we have to kill this fucker…” Paige muttered.

“As many as it - Piper! Leo!” Phoebe hissed.

The parents did not listen. Without speaking, they divided and conquered. Piper blasted Barbas, who staggered back with surprise. Leo’s lightning impacted Gideon, lifting him up high in the air. Piper continued stalking forward, hands aimed up at the demon.

“Well well well.” Barbas sounded almost impressed. He tapped the bleeding wound over his chest. With a smile, he looked at Piper, who readied her next attack. “Ah! Am I really your priority? After all, he’s the one who took your children.”

“And what do you get out of it?” Piper hit him again but restrained. Barbas moaned in pain but laughed. He’d talk eventually. She couldn’t freeze him, couldn’t kill him, but she could make him hurt.

“Your fear is so… delicious.” Barbas lifted his hand in his circular motion and Piper blasted off a finger. He curled up in pain with a shout.

“Wrong answer.” She squatted next to him. “Witches with fear can’t hurt you. I’m not afraid because I know what’s going to happen. One of you is going to talk, I’m going to find my boys and then we’re coming to vanquish you like every other time.”

Her point was emphasized by Leo dropping Gideon back into the water with a loud splash. The Elder groaned and rolled over, pleading for Leo to see the error of his ways. His words landed on deaf ears.

Barbas chuckled. “I wasn’t talking about you, witch.” He glanced past her to see Phoebe and Paige arriving as backup. “No matter. I’m done with this stupid plan. I’ve fed enough from him.”

Piper raised her hands to blast him again when he started to shimmer, but Phoebe stopped her. “We’ll find him. Don’t waste your energy.” She rounded her glare on Gideon. The calm anger and efficiency she radiated were uncharacteristic, and clearly channeled empathy. “We got who we need.”

Meanwhile, Paige stood between Leo and Gideon. Piper almost yelled at her to step aside until she saw the athame Leo was clutching. It was dripping blood, more than could have come from Wyatt’s single cut they saw.

“Where’s my sons?” Leo seethed. He kept the athame at his side, at the ready, but Paige kept him from getting closer.

“Leo, we are Elders,” Gideon coughed, lecturing, even from his prone and injured position. “We must…” he tried to crawl and stand, so Paige called for a rock to drop on his legs. Gideon cried out but found no sympathy.

“Where. Are. My. Sons.” Leo crouched down, leveling the dagger at Gideon’s throat.

“Your wings will be cut. Your soul will be recycled. Do not do this, Leo.”

“Then one of us will,” Piper stepped in. “I’ve been wanting to blow up an Elder for a long time.”

Gideon glanced around, searching for any escape.

“Just answer the question,” Phoebe said, still eerily calm. “You believe in the Grand Design, yeah? That everything will work out, things are as they are supposed to be, and everything happens for a reason? Well, this is happening for a reason. This is as it is supposed to be. So answer. Nothing will change. You are as insignificant to the Grand Design as any mortal. You cannot stop a prophecy. You are the one messing with the scales of balance. Not the Charmed Legacy.”

Gideon flinched and frantically looked at the faces of those surrounding him. “You do not understand. Leo…” The dagger pressed closer. “Piper, you cannot- Phoebe, you must feel - Paige, your potential…” None of his attempts landed. Realizing his situation, Gideon squared his jaw. “It is no matter indeed. It has been done.”

Leo growled, and the dagger vanished from his grip to Paige’s before he could make a mistake. “Where’s the boys?” Paige repeated.

“Gone,” Gideon said. “Wyatt orbed them away. They cannot leave the Underworld. You will never find them.”

“Yes, we will,” Phoebe grabbed Piper’s hand to keep her from finding out what her powers did to Elders. She nodded to Paige, who crouched down beside Leo.

Paige placed Leo’s hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Take him up. The world - no, the boys need justice, not vengeance.” She carefully handed the athame back to him, to be used as evidence.

“Don’t let him frame you as the rogue Elder, Leo,” Phoebe insisted. “You’re better than him.”

Leo tensed his hand around the athame until his knuckles went white. Then he hauled Gideon up, dragging him free from the boulder Paige had summoned, despite the scream of pain Gideon let out. “Fine. It’s your lucky day. I’m trying to be a pacifist again.” He flipped the dagger around in his grasp. “But if you make any move, I will stab you.” He looked around at the sisters, finally landing on Piper. “I’ll be right back. And that will be the last time I’m going up.”

“Leo…” Gideon started meekly.

“Shut up,” the other Elder orbed them both away.

With no time to lose, Piper drew in a shaky breath and grabbed both her sisters’ hands to place on her belly. “Let’s bring our family home.”

Chapter Text

The orb trail around the Underworld was surprisingly long for a supposedly injured baby. It had to be Wyatt orbing them around; Chris would have been able to leave the Underworld. What that said about Chris’ condition and the amount of blood that was on Gideon’s athame… the sisters didn’t want to think about it. It wouldn’t matter. They’d find him. They’d heal him. They’d bring him home.

“Here?” Paige said, landing them in yet another corner of the hells. It looked like it was a demon hideout, with the bed or nest-like setup and stone tools around. Yet no demons were to be seen. That generally didn’t mean anything except a possible ambush, until Phoebe spotted the piles of ash.

At her touch, Phoebe pulled a vision forward. Wyatt orbed into the den, with Chris at his feet. The older was curled up in pain, but always holding little Wyatt’s hand. Half a dozen demons crawled up closer, weapons in hand towards the intruders. Wyatt didn’t hesitate — didn’t seem scared. He just blinked cutely at the demons and they incinerated on the spot. Chris squeezed Wyatt’s hand to get his attention and they orbed away again.

Phoebe’s vision merged with the current time. Nothing was left of the whole clan of demons but ash. “Wyatt’s scary, Piper.”

“That’s my boys. Did you see Chris?”

Phoebe nodded reluctantly. “He’s not doing well.”

“We must be getting close,” Paige concluded. “Chris must have a plan. He’s been here for a long time so he must have a set-up somewhere. Many kids in the system are always prepared like he is, hopping around hidden places and friends’ houses all the time, with backpacks of supplies ready to run any moment. Chris might not be able to orb, but Wyatt trusts him and he can still lead them somewhere.”

“Can you sense them?” Piper asked.

“I’ve never been good at that, let alone in the Underworld.”

“You’ve got this,” Piper insisted. She stepped away, not to confuse Paige’s senses with baby Chris.

While Paige tried to focus, Phoebe hugged Piper to her side. “They’ve got each other. They’ll be okay. They’re brothers.” She watched it sink in on Piper’s face. Brothers. Wyatt’s little brother came all the way from the future to save him. Phoebe couldn’t count how many times the sisters had bent the rules of time and space to save each other. They’d learned that in witchcraft, not much was stronger than familial - let alone sibling - bonds. Chris’ love-hate relationship with the baby made a lot more sense now.

Tears started to well up in Piper’s eyes but she was saved from explaining herself by Paige announcing she’d felt something. “This way.” The other women eagerly reached out their hands to be orbed to their next destination.

Their feet hit the ground again in another unknown corner of the Underworld. Pillars of stone and outcroppings surrounded them. A maze of sandstone, dust, and echoes. A perfect place to hide a camp and be alerted to approaching enemies, while they stumble around trying to find you. Plenty of time to orb away.

Unfortunately, Paige’s senses pulled her in the direction of a wall, with no way of knowing how to actually navigate the maze.

“We’re close,” Phoebe said, wincing. She clutched her stomach, as if in pain. Piper quickly moved to support her. With steps too slow for the hurry in their hearts, the sisters followed the hot and cold that was Phoebe’s empathic pain.

It was taking too long. “Chris?” Piper called out. They must be close.

“Piper,” Paige hissed, “Demons might find us first.”

“Let them. Chris! Where… Wyatt! Come lead mommy to…” Blue light shimmered behind a corner and shyly at first, the blonde head of her baby peeked out. When he saw them, he toddled over faster. Piper left Phoebe’s weight to Paige and caught her son in her arms. Wyatt clutched her tightly, his little fists white around her shirt. “Hey honey, it’s okay now…” He hugged her and she stroked his head. Her fury reignited seeing the cut on the boy’s upper arm. “Wyatt, where’s Chris? Can you show us?” Piper felt her sister’s hand on her shoulder and the pull of orbing a moment later.

The smell of blood hit them first. Their eyes adjusted to the dark, and the vague shape of a tent, not much more than a tarp over a low table and pile of supplies, came into view. A low moan focused their attention. Surrounded by scraps of paper, laying on a dusty threadbare bedroll was Chris. Pale, sweating, and shaking, but alive.

Piper pushed Wyatt into Phoebe’s arms and dragged Paige to the ground with her, next to her elder-younger son. Paige’s hands started hovering awkwardly, trying to force a power she didn’t yet have. “Hey peanut… Chris, can you hear me? You’re going to be okay, sweetie… it’s all going to be okay. Keep breathing…” Piper spoke without thought, just needing any response from the man on the ground. Any recognition. Any sign of life.

Another pained groan and Chris turned slightly towards them, but his arm stayed crossed over her stomach. Piper tried to pull his arm away, but he groaned a “No…” and blood seeped out at any movement. She pushed instead, forcing pressure to keep the deep stab wound closed. She was still speaking mindless encouragements and promises, and Chris’ ragged breathing seemed to ease a little. Was that good or bad? She wasn’t sure.

“Let’s get him out of here.” Piper turned to reach for Phoebe so Paige could orb them all when Chris’ hand shot out. He grabbed her wrist and turned to his side. Piper tried to stop him, softly saying, “Don’t move too much, honey,” but he continued to struggle.

He hacked a few times, before a raspy voice, not much more than an exhale, insisted, “Books.” His arm fell limp from its grasp around her wrist, any force exerting him, and landed in a pointed finger to a low table. “Gid… Office. Proof.”

Piper stroked his head and watched comfort wash over his pained expression. “We believe you, Chris. Gideon’s dealt with.”

“Elders…”

“They will too. You did good. You did so good.” Behind her, she heard the rustling of Phoebe gathering as much from the place as she could.

“Wyatt…” he croaked, his hand patting the ground as if searching.

“Wyatt’s safe. We’ll bring you both home.”

Chris scoffed. Obstinate, even with his (totally not, never will, absolutely not) dying breath. “Home.”

“Yes, home.”

“Can’t orb.”

“Paige can. Paige?” She hadn’t noticed her sister leave her side. Why hadn’t they orbed yet? What was taking so long? Piper didn’t want to take her eyes off Chris for a moment. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Finally, Paige’s hand was back on her shoulder and orbs were pulling them up, out of the Underworld. Piper started yelling Leo’s name immediately and kept a tight hold on Chris’ arm. She didn’t let go when they arrived in the manor. With Paige’s help, they put him on the bed of the master bedroom. In the light, Chris looked even worse. The dark under his eyes, bloodshot lids, ghostly white, bruised skin. Part of Piper hoped Gideon would still be with Leo when he returned for a rematch.

Leo showed up alone, flushed and eyes still frantic with worry. “Is he…?” His hands started glowing before he reached Chris’ abdomen.

The familiar glow eased the immediate agony in her chest. Even if everything would still be a mess to talk out, Chris would be alive. Her hands continued their ministrations through Chris' hair, wiping the sweat from his brow. Now she let herself look, the similarities were so obvious. The calm on his face was an expression unknown to her, but he suddenly looked so young. His clear unconscious state should worry her, but it was probably also the only reason he was allowing Leo to heal him.

“Piper,” Phoebe said softly. The elder sister turned to look, finally able to take her eyes away from Chris. Phoebe was just behind her, worry on her face, Wyatt still on her hip, and flipping through a book. Beside her, Paige was crouched next to a stack of books, examining the spines with confusion. “These notes… It’s darklighter magic. Magic-binding rituals.” Her eyes flitted between Wyatt, Chris, and Leo as she was putting the pieces together. “We saw Chris fire lightning while nearly unconscious, but now couldn’t orb or defend himself at all. And Wyatt, in none of my underworld visions, ever used his shield.”

Breathe. Count to six. Don’t ask Leo to orb you Up There so you can test your powers on Elders. “We can undo bindings,” Piper said with effort. She turned back to Chris. The peaceful but pale face was still there. Still.

She looked up at Leo and found the Elder sweating himself.

“What’s going on?”

Leo shook his head and pulsed his fingers, continuing his healing. “It’s… not closing. The wound isn’t closing.”

The dread and agony were back. “What do you mean it’s not closing?”

Paige shoved past her and joined her hands with Leo, joining her white-lighter powers with his healing. A moment later, she grimaced and pulled back. “It’s siphoning magic. Like the notes say. I can feel it draining my white lighter powers.”

“But! Then…” Piper protested. Fix it! She wanted to scream. Chris’ face twitched in pain, a moment of agonizing consciousness, then fell back to the peace. He was still losing blood. He was still losing magic. He was still dying.

“I can feel it too,” Leo whispered. He didn’t stop the futile healing.

“Could Wyatt…?” Phoebe suggested, carrying the boy closer. Though Piper hated putting Wyatt in the position of healing such traumatic injuries so young, anything… Just anything.

Leo shook his head. “It would siphon him too.” He put one hand out to heal Wyatt’s arm. Wyatt cried in pain and Leo whispered apologies, but the wound closed with some effort. The boy stopped his crying and looked down confused and fond at his brother on the bed. “Wyatt’s wound wasn’t deep enough to have the poison set in.”

But Chris… Chris was deeply affected.

“This can’t be it,” Piper muttered. After all that Chris had been through, worked for, and sacrificed, this couldn’t be it. Not when she just barely knew the truth. He was her son. Her brave, neurotic, clever to the point of self-sabotaging stupidity, loyal, strong son. Her child, even if he was an adult.

There was so much still to say. So much still to learn. He saved his brother’s future and wasn’t going to get his own? Fate loved to fuck with the Halliwells.

Then maybe it was time for the Halliwells to once again fuck with fate.

Piper shot up to her feet. “Attic,” she ordered. “Paige, can you orb the bed with us? Leo, slow him as much as you can.” Leo nodded determined, even if Piper could see the pale sparks of his magic feeding into Chris’ wound, and the poison was drawing up dark veins on Leo’s arms. Paige eagerly joined any chance and orbed them all up one story of the house. The bed hit loudly against the hardwood floors, landing unevenly.

“What’s the plan?” Phoebe asked. She still carried all the books they’d taken from Chris’ hideout. His last request.

Piper pointed her to Chris’ spellbook. “Find the travel spell. Or write a new one.” She herself picked up a piece of chalk and faced the wall, starting a large triquetra.

“His future is dangerous,” Paige said hesitantly. “He fled from it. I don’t think he’d want…”

“Not if he saved it.” Piper continued to draw. “He deserves to see it. And maybe he can go back. Maybe there’s antidotes there that we don’t have time to make here.”

“Time magic is complicated,” Paige said carefully. “We could be connecting to his future, even if he’s made new timelines. Maybe Gideon was only a part of the problem, and it could still be bad. Or we could destroy all the good Chris has done. Piper, I want to help him but this is opening the doors to his personal hell. We could be inviting the dangers to Wyatt he’s literally dying to preve—“

“He’s not dying!” Piper shouted. Count to six. “Maybe actively, yes. But not permanently.” The chalk continued to screech across the wall. “Phoebe?”

“Searching!”

“Leo…Tell her this is crazy.” Paige asked softly and Piper pretended not to hear.

“I can’t… I can’t heal him, Paige. I don’t have much time left and he won’t- It’s getting worse. This darklighter poison has been made immune to even Elder magic. Because a damn Elder made it. An Elder who I trusted, on multiple occasions, to even watch the child he made this poison for. So I’m not the one to trust for guidance or judgement. This is our chance to trust Chris.”

Paige was quiet for a moment. The room was eerily silent with tension, fear, scratching of chalk and pen, and the soft jingling of Leo’s magic. The spell was in preparation and though it couldn’t be soon enough, Piper refused to make a hasty mistake.

For a brief moment in the quiet, the soft sound of healing stopped. Piper looked over her shoulder in panic and found Paige chanting a short improvised spell under her breath. Then she took Leo’s hand and the healing continued. The black veins from Leo’s arm withdrew partially and moved up Paige’s instead. The venom trying to make its way through one half-angel had to get through three instead. With no cure in sight and a time ticking until both of the others would also be permanently affected by the poison, Piper continued drawing.

“Is he still Up There?” Paige asked in the quiet.

Leo huffed. “The tribunal will hear his case. He’s in custody, stripped of his wings. Some of the Elders want him recycled immediately. Others are unsure; it’s my word against his at the moment, but once evidence and memories come up, I’m sure it won’t be long before his soul is returned.”

“Good,” Paige bit out. Then, hissed quietly, “I just don’t understand. Why? He was talking about the Grand Design and unbalanced scales but the hypocrite was the one pushing… Leo, what? What did he say?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“Are any of the Elders going to agree with him?”

Leo didn’t answer.

“They better not,” Piper spat. The triquetra was finished and even. Piper turned back to the rest. Phoebe was still scribbling near the Book of Shadows. Paige was focused on her interrogation, but Leo wasn’t on task. The glow in his hands sputtered, faded, and relit with distraction as his eyes glanced at the triquetra and back.

“What did he say, Leo?” Paige asked again.

Leo’s stare from the triquetra broke and he refocused on Chris. “Gideon said Wyatt would be the most powerful witch of all time. The Twice Blessed. He would powerful to the point that he would break the balance of the world. No matter which side of the conflict would have that kind of power, it would be unsustainable for…” He growled and cut himself off. “Doesn’t matter. Even if it was what Chris described, it has changed. It has to. He’s not…” A sob broke through Leo’s words and his hands glowed brighter. Leo rested his forehead against the bloody side of his son. “Especially if. Especially if it was true. If you can give your brother that much grace, son, spare some for us. You’re a better whitelighter than I was. I am so proud and so sorry. Every day… I will spend every day…earning my wings from you.” Slowly with his words, the light from his hands dimmed. It traveled up his body and lifted from his head, where the sparks of magic rose through the ceiling into the clouds. The black retracted from his veins, losing interest in its host.

Paige hissed in pain as the poison focused on her. “Phoebe, how’s the spell going?”

“Almost there! Had to reverse it and with the timeline issues… Okay, this better work!” Phoebe scurried up to the wall and grabbed Piper’s hand.

“Hear these words, hear the rhyme

Heed the hope within my mind

Meet us, fate, so we may find

A brother’s wish lost in time.”

With a whirl, the triquetra on the wall lit a brilliant spiraling blue. Phoebe squeezed Piper’s hand. “Ready?” They were either stepping into Chris’ damnation or salvation. “You got him, Paige?”

Before Paige could finish her strained answer, a shadow appeared in the portal. Quickly the witches backed up, hands up at the ready. A young blond man stepped out, looking confused at first. When he spotted the sisters, he broke out a wide smile and pointed to the recent hole in the wall from the fight with Gideon. “Interesting new fixture in the attic. Or old, I guess? What’s up?”

Piper blinked incredulously.

The man continued to look around, oblivious to the tension. “Wow, this is so weird. Ha! Grandma’s dollhouse! Haven’t seen that since— Don’t worry about it. And oh! That’s what that stained glass is supposed to be? I thought it was abstract!” He turned back to Piper with a megawatt grin, but she didn’t yet lower her hands. “So what did…” His face fell to horror as he looked past her. Immediately he tried to rush forward, but instinctively Piper stepped in the way to shield Chris from this newcomer. However, when she looked up and saw the determined concerned expression that was so familiar, she refused to miss the signs again. Chris wore Prue’s workaholism, and Wyatt wore his father’s care.

She stepped aside and watched her oldest son sink to his knees by his brother’s bedside. Leo watched him with apprehension but stepped back when the glow from Wyatt’s hands came easily.

However, it didn’t take long for adult Wyatt to notice the same issue. Though the glow in his hands fought back the black that tried to get into his veins, it still intercepted any magic trying to reach Chris. “What’s going on?” his booming voice commanded.

Piper’s throat closed up. Wyatt couldn’t heal him either. Watching Chris heave through his breaths it was like she could feel his pain in her belly. She reached out blindly for anything to steady her weak legs. Leo clutched her hand, squeezing it tight.

Paige quickly explained the nature of the poison.  “Any cures from your future?”

“I can reach his witch side to make him hold on longer.” Wyatt looked at his father and saw reflected that that had already been tried. His hands formed fists and he glared down at his brother. “You asshole. Is this what you’ve been up to? Why the fuck did you go back to the past?”

“For you.” Piper heard Leo whisper under his breath.

“Lock yourself up, block the link, disappear. I would’ve helped you, dumbass. You know, if you’d bother to call her back, even…wait.” Wyatt brusquely stood up. With the wave of his hand, the portal opened back up. Almost immediately after stepping in, Wyatt returned with a young woman behind him. Something about her long dark hair, dark eyes, and equally dark clothes struck familiar, but all the Halliwells cared about was if she could save their youngest.

The two paid no mind to the others in the room and made a beeline for Chris. “As I said,” Wyatt gestured to Chris. “He’s an idiot.” Despite the words, his voice was desperate and fond.

“All I disagreed with was that you would’ve made the situation better by backing these plans.”

“I could have stopped him from getting stabbed!”

“Because you’ve never been stabbed before,” the woman said with a coy smile.

Wyatt huffed, blushed, and stammered, then gestured again to Chris, “You’re welcome. Now fix.”

The woman turned to Paige, who was still feeding the wound. “Back up,” she ordered curtly.

Paige looked to Wyatt, seeing the same familiarity, “Can we do anything to help?”

“Backing up,” the woman answered for him. 

When Wyatt nodded, Paige broke the connection. Chris flinched as the poison only had one target once again. The woman pushed her aside and Paige stood by her sisters. This had to work. These were strangers from a dangerous future, even if it was Wyatt, but they had nothing to lose.

Then the woman plunged her hand into Chris’ chest.

Chris gasped and arched in pain, his eyes opening for a moment before falling shut again. The Charmed Ones screamed in protest, calling to their powers, but Wyatt was faster in summoning his shield. The bubble surrounded the future generation, pushing back the attempts at breaking through. “It’s okay! Trust us. Don’t interfere.”

“YOU SHOVED YOUR HAND IN…” Piper raged. “LET HIM GO.”

Phoebe held her back. She clutched her hand to her heart and with tears in her eyes stared at the woman. “Bianca?”

The woman didn’t respond or look up, but she stiffened. Without waiting for approval, she continued her ritual.

“It’s okay,” Phoebe said. “They’re helping.” Her voice broke in clear pain on the last word, channeling Chris’s writhing agony, but Piper had to trust her empathy had picked up more.

Finally, after what felt like ages watching Chris suffer, Bianca drew back. Wyatt quickly dove in and continued healing. With held breath, everyone watched until the wound sealed up. The shield still separated them when Chris gulped in a deep breath.

Wyatt laughed wetly and hauled Chris up into a hug. “What the fuck, dude?” His surprise increased when Chris shoved him off and rolled away into a defensive stance, his hands pushed outward. When Wyatt stayed in a sad heap on the floor, Chris looked at his hands and back at Wyatt in fear. “Where are my powers?”

Wyatt lifted one finger to point to his accomplice.

Pure betrayal showed on his face when Chris saw Bianca. “He turned you back?”

“We had to,” Bianca said. She reached out for him, but Chris backed up, his breathing heavy and quick. “The poison was latched onto your powers. Read the spell from the book and you’ll get them back.”

“Won’t that bring the poison back as well?” Leo asked loudly. In his panicked state, Chris glanced over and saw some support from the back. Piper tried to smile and Phoebe gave a thumbs up, hoping to give some confidence in that he wasn’t alone.

Bianca shook her head, acknowledging them for the first time. “It should have separated without a host. When you summon them back, your powers should be fine.”

Hesitantly, Chris edged back towards the Book of Shadows, never letting his eyes stray from Wyatt. Wyatt extended the shield a little to encompass to book and Chris pounced to the altar as if he’d never have another chance. Soon, tiny lights came down from the ceiling and settled in Chris’ chest.

“See?” Wyatt got back to his feet with an exaggerated stretch. With a grin, he flicked his wrist. A little ball of light flung from his hand towards Chris. “Catch.”

To anyone, it was obviously part of a little game that must be familiar to siblings who grew up playing with magic. Now, the sisters didn’t know the rules of this game, but blasting the little ball of light and your sibling with lightning was probably not it.

The bolt sent Wyatt and his shield flying back, bouncing across the attic. Like a science experiment plasma ball, the lightning struck again and again. When he finally rolled to a stop, he stumbled back to his feet angrily, letting the shield drop. “No lightning inside the shield!” Wyatt yelled like he clearly had done many times before. “It ricochets! You know this!” He stopped suddenly, seeing the pure fear in Chris’ eyes.

“Chris?” Bianca said softly. Chris’ head snapped to her in disbelief. He glanced from Wyatt to Bianca to the sisters, unsure of what reality to live in. “Is it the dreams?” she asked, reaching out a hand. Not to touch him, just an offer.

He made a beeline for her and grabbed the hand. “Let’s go.” He started to drag her towards the Charmed Ones, but she stayed rooted in her spot. He jerked back into place and glanced around in panic, stuck and trying to formulate a plan.

“It’s okay,” Piper stepped forward, placing her hand on their joined ones. Her thumb rubbed calming circles, but he snatched his hand back.

“It’s not okay! How many times do I have to tell you…”

“Gideon’s contained,” Leo added certainty and details to the confusion and niceties. “Wyatt’s safe.” He hauled the baby up to his hip from the playpen, then gestured to adult Wyatt, who looked like a kicked puppy. “Look, Chris, he’s okay. You did it. You saved the future.”

Chris stared between the two of them. Leo smiled proudly and adult Wyatt waved hesitantly.

“You did amazing,” Piper continued. “We’re so sorry, we should have listened to you…”

“I don’t think this is our Chris,” Bianca said to Wyatt, slowly untangling her hand from Chris’ deathgrip. Chris reached out for her more when she stepped back, but stopped when she instead beckoned Wyatt closer. She added, “Our Chris has been having nightmares. He was confused and ashamed, so he didn’t want to tell you. We were trying to figure out what they meant. Maybe they were premonitions from a new power. But he eventually stopped sharing with me too. I think they’re from this Chris.”

“Is that why he blocked the link?” Wyatt asked. Bianca nodded, and Wyatt groaned in annoyance. “First thing I sense from you in a year and it’s near-death. Don’t do that again!” Chris didn’t answer, so Wyatt tried again, asking Bianca, “Nightmares about what?”

Bianca looked at Chris. The fear and suspicion were still present, but muted by surprise and even more dangerous hope.

It was like clarity. Mostly more confusion, but as Bianca’s hands touched his, an overlap of senses and memories began to emerge. Her hand was the same shape, perfect fit, familiar long fingers with deadly accuracy, but lacking callouses and scars. No, just different. These scars were equally familiar as the ones in his memory. Both sets couldn’t be true at the same time, yet they were.

Wyatt’s goofy smile was so wrong, contrasted by the memory of the stone-cold fury, yet his brain also said this had always been Wyatt’s caught-in-the-cookie-jar face. It made sense, it was different, and it was real.

Finally, Chris looked up, “It doesn’t matter. It’s over. I… I think it’s over.”

The sisters smiled back at him. The Charmed Ones, before their peak, messy individual women with stupid issues, still managed to drag him back from certain death.

Piper lay a hand over her pregnant belly and tilted her head with a smirk. Chris felt the blood drain from his face. They knew. Piper just smiled wider. Pride, love, regret. His chest ached to run to her and feel that love one more time. He looked away.

Seeing the same expression on his father was weird, and he had no time to unpack that. His aunts were similar, staring with such familiar open fondness. Phoebe was crying silently, as expected. Paige was grinning, daring him to do something outrageous. Though everyone told him he took after Prue, he got his flair for causing scenes and problems from somewhere else. 

Wyatt huffed. “I don’t think it’s over. You bolted me. I’ll so get you back.”

Chris dared a grin. “Okay, ‘Twice-Blessed’. But I’m half-Elder so…”

“Yeah, yeah, still can’t get through my shield. And you can bolt like, three times before you need a nap…”

“Boys!” Piper whistled. “Be nice.”

“Yes, mom,” Wyatt said. He quickly pulled Piper into a casual hug with a smile, like there was no baggage and grief.

After they separated, Piper looked at Chris with a pleading question, and Chris was a weak little boy who stepped into his mom’s arms. She held Chris tightly, and he refused to cry, but the tension in his shoulders stayed. “Have a good trip home, peanut,” she whispered. He drew back and saw her in the moment, remembered his mom with smile lines and a scar over her temple, and hoped the false memory of a graying Piper would be true where he was going.

He smiled, if only to stop her from making that sad frown, and looked back at Bianca. His fiancée stood back, arms crossed, but watching amused. Her stance and shoulders were a lot more relaxed than he remembered, not ready to attack or run at any moment.

“Chris…” Leo took a step forward, reaching out too and Chris stepped back instinctively. His father looked like he’d been struck across the face, but sighed, resigned to it. Chris just waited, while Leo collected his thoughts. As usual, it wasn’t much. “We’ll see you there,” Leo eventually said. 

“Yeah, right,” Chris replied, doubtful.

Leo’s face hardened in determination, but his eyes had the love that was usually reserved for Wyatt. “You will.” Chris still doubted it, but a small bit of hope blossomed. Maybe this Leo would be better. Or at least try. He refused to access the double memories about Leo here.

Phoebe reached out her arms, “Me too! You have so much explaining to do, mister!” Chris allowed an awkward one-armed hug, but Phoebe squeezed tight. She patted his shoulder with a wink, and when she withdrew Chris felt something settle in his pocket. When he touched it, a familiar ring was back where it belonged. Well, almost where it belonged.

“That’s our cue to leave.” Bianca stepped up. “We’ve already revealed too much. Future consequences.”

Chris heard Paige snort a laugh and whisper to Phoebe, “Ah, I see it now.” Caught, Paige waved not a goodbye but a 'see you later', and gestured to the side of the room where Bianca was heading. 

Bianca just rolled her eyes. She took up the discarded chalk and began filling in the damaged parts of the triquetra. Without looking, she held out the slip of paper with the spell in Chris’ general direction, trusting him to do his part in a well-established partnership. At least that wasn’t different in either set of burgeoning memory. He started reading.

When the portal opened, Wyatt swung an arm over his brother’s shoulder and spoke in their mental link so their mother wouldn’t hear, “Twice-Blessed, Half-Elder, but Mel gets to fucking fly when she shouldn’t even have orbs, so who’s God’s real favorite, huh?”

Chris stepped through the portal to see what his work had brought him.

The last thing the Charmed Ones heard was Wyatt yelling, “What the fuck do you mean ‘who’s Mel?’!” 

The portal shut with a whoosh, like the air leaving their lungs in relief and grief at the same time. Piper was enveloped in a group hug from all sides, with her sisters promising her belly all sorts of apologies, promises, and consequences for his behavior.

Leo quietly slid his hand over hers, playing with her bare ring finger. When she met his eye with a nod, he smiled cautiously. His hand drifted over to feel her belly. The light from above might have left him, but the light she’d loved was back in his eyes when the baby kicked.

This Chris was not theirs to win over anymore.

The next Chris is.