Try, Try Again Chapter 4 of 29
Chapter 4
Plan B
Piper was sitting alone in the dining room, reading through the diary, when Chris orbed in. He peered around the box he was holding to look through the room. “Is it safe?” he asked her.
She gave him a smile and said, “Yes, it’s safe. Go and put your stuff down, we need to talk.”
Chris’s shoulders stiffened and he walked out to lay his stuff down in the other room. He walked back into the dining room already dreading the conversation to come. In his experience, whenever anyone started with ‘we need to talk’ it was never a good thing. He sat down at the table and looked at Piper. She was closing the diary. He glanced at the book and said, “I didn’t know you had already started keeping that thing.” He would recognize his mother’s diary anywhere. She always had it close to her when he was growing up.
Piper had a serious look on her face when she said, “I didn’t.”
Chris scrunched his eyes in confusion, she was reading something in the book and it didn’t look like the first page.
Piper began to explain, “There is a reason I knew to ask your name; to ask who I was to you.” Chris looked at her, waiting, not understanding. Piper paused then said, “I went to the future.”
It took a moment for the full realization of what Piper had just said to hit Chris but when it did he stood quickly and started to pace the room. He had wide eyes as he started speaking, “You shouldn’t be reading that. There are things there you aren’t meant to know.”
He stopped and stared at her when she said, “I already know.”
Chris was shaking his head, there were things that led up to The Event in there and he never saw that diary again after she died. He always assumed Leo had it, what if he had written in it?
“No, Pip…” At her glare he paused, looked down and said in a whisper, “Mom…” He looked back up at her and began to explain again, “You can’t know. You could change the future in even worse ways.”
Piper stood, walked over to Chris and put her hand on his arm saying, “I saw.” He was again shaking his head and he backed away. She didn’t let go of him as she said, “Peanut, I saw my death.”
Tears that Chris didn’t even know he was holding in began to flow down his cheeks and he reached towards her and pulled her into a hug. “I tried so hard to save you,” he told her.
She petted the back of his hair, “I know, baby, I know. We are going to change things so that you never have to live through that.”
He pulled back to look at her and said, “I didn’t even dare to hope that I could save you now.” And the tears began to flow again.
When he had calmed down Piper walked back over to the diary and said, “Leo… your Leo,” She began and Chris rolled his eyes, “Gave this to me. He said we could still fix everything. He told me about Wyatt.” She paused and looked away for a moment; she didn’t want to think about the things he was capable of. “He told me that they knew who planted the seed of evil within him. They thought they had saved him but something triggered that evil again.”
Chris was watching her steadily as he asked, “What do you mean ‘triggered’ and how did they know they had to save him?”
It was Piper’s turn to look away. She hadn’t intended to tell him about his part in all this, but now she realized she had no choice. “They knew because you had gone back to tell them.” She explained.
Chris sat down and said, “I… I went back?”
Piper shook her head as if to deny the statement but said, “Yes, but they never knew who you were. You died trying to save Wyatt. They thought you had saved him. Leo told me we named our baby to honor the sacrifice that young whitelighter from the future had made. It wasn’t until that baby grew older that they recognized who you were and knew that you had gone back in time to save your brother.” Piper’s eyes glistened from unshed tears.
Chris opened his mouth, closed it again and opened it to say, “But… but, he still became evil. I didn’t save him.”
Piper wanted to reassure him but lacked any really comforting words, “You would have saved him, if…”
Chris waited again for her to continue but she didn’t. “If what, Mom?”
Piper gave a small watery smile at the name and Chris returned the gesture. Piper then dropped the grin and said, “There is so much here for us to figure out.” Piper was trying to redirect the conversation, “You need to understand, when baby Chris was born, Leo decided to stay up in Elderland to watch out for other Elders that could mean our family harm. He came down occasionally to make sure Wyatt was still good and he and your Piper discussed things she saw.” She pointed at the diary. “He never meant to neglect you…”
Chris was shaking his head, he saw what his mom was doing and allowed her to lead the conversation away from his question but now he had to stop her, “Mom, stop defending him. He made his choices, he left, he didn’t make time for me; those were his choices. I don’t want to hear about him. I want to know what the trigger was.” There, he said it. That is what he wanted; he no longer cared why Leo treated him like an unwanted visitor. At least that is what he was telling himself. He needed to believe he didn’t care because there was a bigger picture here.
He waited for what seemed like years for Piper to tell him and when she finally spoke, he wished she hadn’t told him at all. “My death was the trigger,” she said quietly.
Piper had a determined look on her face when she said, “So we stop the seed of evil being planted or we stop my death from occurring.” She paused and smiled before saying, “Or preferably, both. And we save Wyatt.”
Chris smiled at her nonchalance regarding her own demise then he realized she hadn’t said the most important part, “Wait, you said you know who planted the evil. I have been searching for all these months and they knew who it was?”
Piper paused, she could hardly believe what she was going to say, “They said,” and she paused again. Chris waited expectantly, “They said it was the Elder, Gideon.”
Chris’s mouth dropped and he stayed like that for a second before saying, “Gideon? The Elder that founded magic school?” Chris shakes his head and says, “We went to school there. We learned about him and his plan to educate magical children...”
Piper looks at him and says, “Wait, I sent you to magic school?”
Chris replied, “Yeah, Dad said it was a way he could keep a better eye on Wyatt. I didn’t want to go but I refused to be moved to a school without Wyatt.”
Piper barely heard anything after the ‘Dad’ comment. Chris had never referred to Leo as Dad. She mentally shook it off not wanting to derail Chris.
Chris was lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he said, “That’s it! Gideon is at magical school now, right? I can go up to Magic School to ‘check it out’ for Wyatt and get close to him.”
Piper was already shaking her head no, “I don’t want to put you in any danger.”
Chris gave her a sardonic look and said, “This can’t be any more dangerous than the underworld.” Piper couldn’t disagree.
“Fine,” Piper began, “you work on a way to make that work, I am going to study the diary but first we both need to get some sleep.”
Chris opened his mouth to object but Piper put her hand up and said, “I don’t want to hear it, mister! I already have a room ready for you. First sleep, then plans, got it?”
He looked down and responding to the voice he was quite used to in the future said, “Got it, Mom.” Piper nodded her head and walked towards the stairs. This had been a very long day, but she was feeling better. Chris was her son and they had finally determined a way to save Wyatt. When she laid down on her bed sleep took her quickly.
Chris paced the room for a moment before lying down. It would do no good to anger his mother now. Maybe sleep would help. They finally had a plan.
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
Chris left a note for his mom explaining that he was doing some scouting around Magic School and he would be home in the afternoon. Piper was not pleased that he would go off on his own but realized that he was used to working by himself. It was going to take a while for him to understand that he had family now. Piper made herself and Wyatt some breakfast and began to read through the diary again. There had to be something there that would help them to stop Gideon without resorting to calling on Leo.
She paused and looked up thinking that was something she was going to have to share with Chris; the fact that she wasn’t going to inform Leo about Chris’s parentage. She took a brief moment to wonder if she was doing the right thing but then she remembered the look on Chris’s face as he told her about his dad favoring Wyatt. No, she wouldn’t tolerate favoritism, especially not from Leo. It would be better this way, especially if she had to resort to plan B.
The days flowed into the other. Chris stayed busy trying to gather as much information about Gideon either at Magic School or down in the underworld. He was still certain that there was a demonic influence or at least demonic help. Piper and Chris often found time to peruse the diary over lunch, making it a little bit of mother son bonding time. Piper was amazed at how different she felt about Chris now that she understood his motives and more importantly, knew he was her son. It was hard to believe the little life growing inside her was this determined young man that sat in front of her. She smiled at the thought and Chris looked at her and said, “What?”
She raised her hand and brushed the hair from his eyes and said, “Thank you. Thank you for coming back to warn us.”
Chris only blushed and finished chewing his sandwich before saying, “Anytime, Mom, anytime.”
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
Piper woke feeling that something was off; today was the day of her first sonogram. She knew she should have gone much sooner but she had been so busy worrying about how to find out more about Wyatt that she neglected her own health. She got up and got ready, calling Paige to watch Wyatt so Chris could take her to the appointment. Paige told her, “Be sure to bring home pictures.”
They both watched in wonder as the screen flickered and baby Chris came into view. Chris was once again amazed at his mother’s love for him. The look on her face was pure joy and he was glad to be able to witness it. The tech proudly told them, “It’s a boy.”
Piper snorted causing Chris to laugh. At the look of confusion he explained, “I told her the baby would be a boy.” And they just left it there.
They were walking through the parking garage to the car when Piper said, “Did you see her face when you called me Mom?”
Chris laughed and said, “Well, I had to,” He lied; actually it felt as natural as breathing to call Piper ‘Mom’. “I didn’t want you to have to ground me for calling you Piper.”
Piper joined his laughter and said, “Yeah, well there was that.” They were both so involved in their conversation they missed the warning signs until the spider demon was upon them. Chris saw it just before she leapt at Piper and he shoved her out of the way, getting himself scratched trying to protect her. The demon scurried off before they could do anything to it.
He helped Piper up saying, “Are you ok?” He reached up to put his hand over the scratches because, wow, they really hurt.
Piper said, “I’m fine, how are you?”
Chris looked down at her stomach and said, “You tell me.”
Piper smiled and said, “I think you would be the first to know if mini Chris was hurt.” She had just noticed his pained expression and looked closer at him. She tugged at the arm where he was holding the scratches and said, “Let me see that.” Panic started to flood her as she realized that Chris had been hurt by the demon.
“Oh no, we gotta get you home fast. I read about this. You need to take the antidote for the spider demon's venom. Being scratched by her makes you infected.” She drove them home as quickly as she could, regretting that they hadn’t just orbed there.
She called for Paige as they came through the front door asking her to help Chris clean the wound as she hunted through the diary. Finally she found the entry. Apparently in the future version, Chris was turned by the demon and they had to call Leo to save both Piper and Chris. This is when Leo found out that Piper was pregnant.
Piper had Paige orb to get Phoebe then she quickly explained the story to them. They made the vanquishing potion for the demon and the antidote. Unlike the previous timeline they were able to get Chris to drink the antidote before he was too far gone.
Once Chris was feeling more like himself he came up with a plan. He would orb to the demon while she still thought he was affected by her venom. He could then throw the vanquishing potion at her.
Piper was already starting to argue, “No way, you aren’t going to a spider demon’s lair all by yourself. That is just too dangerous.”
Chris sighed, he knew this would happen. Now that she knew he was her son her maternal instinct had kicked right in. It was like this when he was growing up too. She never let him go on demon hunts because he was the baby. It annoyed him to no end when he was little and it felt even worse now. “Look Mom…” he began to say.
Paige interrupted him, “Piper, this is probably our best chance. The demon will think she still has control of Chris and her guard will be down. According to the book the entrance to her lair is blocked by magical spider webs, without Chris we won’t be able to get through.”
Chris gave his aunt a smile, though he shouldn’t have been surprised that she would stick up for him. She was always the one pushing Mom to allow him to go with them. It was for educational purposes back then, of course. He turned to his mother and gave her a knowing look and said, “I’ll be fine, Mom. How about this, why don’t we all go to the lair and I will go in by myself to toss the potion. I promise if there are any problems that I will orb right back out.” He gave her his most reassuring smile.
Piper didn’t want to be swayed by the argument but she had to admit that it did seem to be the best plan they had so far. She reached up and brushed his hair out of his eyes and said, “Are you sure you are feeling better. Maybe one of us should go in first.”
This time Phoebe came to his rescue saying, “Piper, he’ll be fine. You know he has lots of experience with demons.”
Both Chris and Paige gave her a look as if to say ‘not helping’. Reminding Piper that Chris used to run off by himself was not going to encourage her to allow him to go. Paige said, “Piper, really, this is the best plan and we need to hurry before the demon realizes that Chris is no longer affected.”
That got Piper. She didn’t want to be the cause of any more of Chris’s pain. She still hadn’t forgiven herself with the way she treated him before she knew who he was. She finally said, “Ok, let’s go,” then she locked eyes with Chris and said, “But be careful.”
Chris smiled and took her hand to orb her to the spider demon’s lair as he said, “I always am.”
Vanquishing the demon was easier than they thought it would be. Chris orbed in and threw the potion before the demon even recognized the threat. The Charmed ones waited outside the cave and watched as the magical spider webs disappeared and Chris emerged from the entrance with a cocky grin. “Piece of cake,” he told them and they all orbed back to the manor.
Once they were home Piper felt he needed to know the truth. “Chris, in the diary Piper said that Leo found out about the pregnancy when you were infected by the spider demon.” Chris nodded. “We didn’t call him this time and I don’t plan to tell him about you at all.” Piper looked down again wondering if she was doing the right thing.
Chris was startled, his mother never kept anything from his father in the future. “Okay.” He said.
She looked at him and said, “Just ok?”
He gave her a smile and said, “In my future he wasn’t around enough for me to really be able to consider him my father anyway. This is fine, Mom. What we really need to do is to figure out how to stop Gideon.” Piper smiled and hugged him.
“I also think we should find a way to send you back to the future.” She told him. This stopped Chris in his tracks and he said, “No way, I am here for a reason and I plan to stay until Wyatt is safe.” He didn’t mention the unspoken, ‘and you safe too.’
She put her hand on his arm and said, “Chris, I don’t want to lose you! If you stay you could die here and that is just not a chance I am willing to take.”
Chris shook his head and told her, “Alright, how about we compromise. We will start to look for a way to send me back, but I will stay until Wyatt is safe.” Piper figured that was as close as she was going to get so she agreed. They still needed to find a way to stop Gideon. Time was running out. Little Chris was going to be born within the month and if the diary was correct the date would be November 16th.
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
November 15th 2004
Chris had finally gotten close enough to Gideon to understand his plan. He watched Sigmund, Gideon’s assistant open a curtain on a wall inside Gideon’s room and speak with someone. When Sigmund left Chris opened the curtain and saw a dark version of himself staring back. They spoke, completing each other’s sentences, “Gideon is behind all of this. He was” Said good Chris.
“Trying to send me home.” Evil Chris finished. “We have to stop him. We need” Evil Chris continued.
“A spell.” Good Chris finished.
They both paused then stated at the same time, “Mom.”
They looked into the other’s eyes as good Chris said, “It is the only way to keep my Wyatt good.” At the same time that evil Chris said, “Evil.” They nodded and backed away each orbing to their own homes.
“Mom?” Chris called out when he orbed to the manor.
“In the kitchen,” replied Piper.
He walked into the kitchen to find his mother and both aunts sitting around the table. Chris explained what he saw in the strange mirror in Gideon’s office. “It has to be an alternate universe, a mirror image of this one.” he explained and then told them he needed a powerful spell. “It has to be as strong as a Power of Three spell but something I can use by myself.” Piper was about to object but Chris cut her off and said, “Look, mini me is due to be born tomorrow. We have to do this now.”
Paige said, “I hate to agree with him but he is right, we need to come up with something powerful.”
They worked through the night coming up with a spell and a potion to stop Gideon. The potion was to weaken him and the spell was to erase his memories. If they could stop him before he got to Wyatt then he would never be able to plant the seed of evil. That left fourteen years for Piper to prevent her own death. They were all feeling really good about the plan. Chris was going to wait in the attic after letting Gideon know that he would be alone with baby Wyatt. Wyatt would be safe with his mother but Gideon would come to the attic and Chris would throw the potion to weaken him and then say the spell. They had everything all planned out. What could go wrong?
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
November 16th 2004
Chris stood alone in the attic behind the Book of Shadows. A lifelike baby doll was sitting in the portable playpen. Chris looked around nervously and he heard Gideon orb in.
Several things happened at once, Piper was in a protected part of a safe house when she thought her water broke. She screamed for Paige when she noticed that there was a lot of blood instead of amniotic fluid on the floor.
Paige orbed her to the hospital, leaving baby Wyatt with Phoebe.
Wyatt sensed the danger that Chris was in and orbed to him. Their bond, although weakened from the defenses that Chris had built up over the years, was still flowing.
Chris threw the potion hitting Gideon as Wyatt orbed to the room. Chris took off at a dead run towards the baby as Gideon conjured a knife and stabbed Chris.
Chris fell to the floor reaching his hand out to his baby big brother and said, “Wy…” before closing his eyes.
Gideon was speaking as he walked away from Chris’s fallen body, “It didn’t have to be this way. You didn’t need to die. It should have been only Wyatt.”
He raised the knife above the baby’s head, saying, “This is for the greater good…” He began to swiftly lower the knife at Wyatt.
Wyatt never raised his shield, instead he stared at the knife and caused it to orb away from Gideon. The knife turned in midair and stabbed Gideon in the heart. With the potion already weakening him he fell to the ground and died. His body faded away.
Wyatt toddled over to Chris; he sat down, began to cry and said “Cwiss.” Chris opened his eyes and reached out to his brother.
It took Phoebe ten minutes to get to the manor after Wyatt orbed away from her. She raced up the stairs to find Wyatt crying over a bleeding Chris. “Oh God, Chris!” Phoebe exclaimed as she ran towards the two brothers.
“Tell Mom…” Chris began and he drew in another breath, “Wyatt saved himself. Gideon…” he coughed hard and dragged in another breath, “Gideon is dead.”
Phoebe was frantic, “Hang on Chris.”
Wyatt had raised his hand to heal Chris but nothing was working and he cried harder seeming to know that something was very wrong.
Chris wheezed again and said, “Tell her… love her…” and he died.
Phoebe screamed, “Nooooo,” as Chris’s body faded away. Phoebe picked up Wyatt and held him close to her as she sobbed. A thought suddenly hit her, “Piper.” And she ran towards the car with Wyatt in her arms.
Paige was pacing the waiting room. How long could they make her wait? Her sister was bleeding to death and her nephew was dying inside her. This couldn’t be happening. She paced for what seemed like hours. Finally Phoebe arrived with Wyatt in her arms, her face streaked with tears. Paige took one look at her and asked, “Chris?” Phoebe just shook her head no.
Paige needed more answers but just then the doctor walked into the room, “Halliwell?”
Both sisters got into the doctors personal space asking, “My sister and the baby?”
He smiled and said, “They are both going to be fine.” He led them to the recovery unit and they watched as a baby Chris was handed to Piper.
Paige had tears running down her face as she said, “Looks like we didn’t lose him after all.”
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
January 1, 2005
Piper sat on her bed as she compiled the scant amount of pictures they had of baby Chris. She was determined to make this the best possible baby book. She had scoured everywhere she could find to put the perfect wording under each photo. She smiled as she remembered coming across a special trilogy of poems. They were for three siblings, the oldest, the middle and the baby. She shook her head thinking about the middle child’s poem. She had that poem in her jewelry box, it was from her mother. She had always thought her mother wrote it just for her.
Piper sighed and she looked back down at the letter she had written for Chris. She and her sisters disagreed on what she was planning to do but she knew that she had to stop the trigger since she wasn’t able to stop Gideon in time. Baby Wyatt had watched his brother die and was unable to save him. Instead he had to kill an Elder to save his own life. No, they weren’t in time. She knew the seed of evil had been planted so she had to stop the trigger. She took the baby book and placed it in the attic in a box of Chris’s things. One day he would find this and know how very much she loved him.
Piper went back down the stairs and kissed her boys goodbye. She looked at her sisters and father and said, “This is the only way. You didn’t see that world; my babies will not grow up to live in that.” They didn’t say anything. She wasn’t listening to anyone. She had made up her mind that the only way to save her boys would be to remove herself from their lives. She walked out the front door only turning to say, “You’ll see, one day, you’ll see I was right.” And she left to follow her own plan B.
TBC
Chapter 5
Plan B
Piper was sitting alone in the dining room, reading through the diary, when Chris orbed in. He peered around the box he was holding to look through the room. “Is it safe?” he asked her.
She gave him a smile and said, “Yes, it’s safe. Go and put your stuff down, we need to talk.”
Chris’s shoulders stiffened and he walked out to lay his stuff down in the other room. He walked back into the dining room already dreading the conversation to come. In his experience, whenever anyone started with ‘we need to talk’ it was never a good thing. He sat down at the table and looked at Piper. She was closing the diary. He glanced at the book and said, “I didn’t know you had already started keeping that thing.” He would recognize his mother’s diary anywhere. She always had it close to her when he was growing up.
Piper had a serious look on her face when she said, “I didn’t.”
Chris scrunched his eyes in confusion, she was reading something in the book and it didn’t look like the first page.
Piper began to explain, “There is a reason I knew to ask your name; to ask who I was to you.” Chris looked at her, waiting, not understanding. Piper paused then said, “I went to the future.”
It took a moment for the full realization of what Piper had just said to hit Chris but when it did he stood quickly and started to pace the room. He had wide eyes as he started speaking, “You shouldn’t be reading that. There are things there you aren’t meant to know.”
He stopped and stared at her when she said, “I already know.”
Chris was shaking his head, there were things that led up to The Event in there and he never saw that diary again after she died. He always assumed Leo had it, what if he had written in it?
“No, Pip…” At her glare he paused, looked down and said in a whisper, “Mom…” He looked back up at her and began to explain again, “You can’t know. You could change the future in even worse ways.”
Piper stood, walked over to Chris and put her hand on his arm saying, “I saw.” He was again shaking his head and he backed away. She didn’t let go of him as she said, “Peanut, I saw my death.”
Tears that Chris didn’t even know he was holding in began to flow down his cheeks and he reached towards her and pulled her into a hug. “I tried so hard to save you,” he told her.
She petted the back of his hair, “I know, baby, I know. We are going to change things so that you never have to live through that.”
He pulled back to look at her and said, “I didn’t even dare to hope that I could save you now.” And the tears began to flow again.
When he had calmed down Piper walked back over to the diary and said, “Leo… your Leo,” She began and Chris rolled his eyes, “Gave this to me. He said we could still fix everything. He told me about Wyatt.” She paused and looked away for a moment; she didn’t want to think about the things he was capable of. “He told me that they knew who planted the seed of evil within him. They thought they had saved him but something triggered that evil again.”
Chris was watching her steadily as he asked, “What do you mean ‘triggered’ and how did they know they had to save him?”
It was Piper’s turn to look away. She hadn’t intended to tell him about his part in all this, but now she realized she had no choice. “They knew because you had gone back to tell them.” She explained.
Chris sat down and said, “I… I went back?”
Piper shook her head as if to deny the statement but said, “Yes, but they never knew who you were. You died trying to save Wyatt. They thought you had saved him. Leo told me we named our baby to honor the sacrifice that young whitelighter from the future had made. It wasn’t until that baby grew older that they recognized who you were and knew that you had gone back in time to save your brother.” Piper’s eyes glistened from unshed tears.
Chris opened his mouth, closed it again and opened it to say, “But… but, he still became evil. I didn’t save him.”
Piper wanted to reassure him but lacked any really comforting words, “You would have saved him, if…”
Chris waited again for her to continue but she didn’t. “If what, Mom?”
Piper gave a small watery smile at the name and Chris returned the gesture. Piper then dropped the grin and said, “There is so much here for us to figure out.” Piper was trying to redirect the conversation, “You need to understand, when baby Chris was born, Leo decided to stay up in Elderland to watch out for other Elders that could mean our family harm. He came down occasionally to make sure Wyatt was still good and he and your Piper discussed things she saw.” She pointed at the diary. “He never meant to neglect you…”
Chris was shaking his head, he saw what his mom was doing and allowed her to lead the conversation away from his question but now he had to stop her, “Mom, stop defending him. He made his choices, he left, he didn’t make time for me; those were his choices. I don’t want to hear about him. I want to know what the trigger was.” There, he said it. That is what he wanted; he no longer cared why Leo treated him like an unwanted visitor. At least that is what he was telling himself. He needed to believe he didn’t care because there was a bigger picture here.
He waited for what seemed like years for Piper to tell him and when she finally spoke, he wished she hadn’t told him at all. “My death was the trigger,” she said quietly.
Piper had a determined look on her face when she said, “So we stop the seed of evil being planted or we stop my death from occurring.” She paused and smiled before saying, “Or preferably, both. And we save Wyatt.”
Chris smiled at her nonchalance regarding her own demise then he realized she hadn’t said the most important part, “Wait, you said you know who planted the evil. I have been searching for all these months and they knew who it was?”
Piper paused, she could hardly believe what she was going to say, “They said,” and she paused again. Chris waited expectantly, “They said it was the Elder, Gideon.”
Chris’s mouth dropped and he stayed like that for a second before saying, “Gideon? The Elder that founded magic school?” Chris shakes his head and says, “We went to school there. We learned about him and his plan to educate magical children...”
Piper looks at him and says, “Wait, I sent you to magic school?”
Chris replied, “Yeah, Dad said it was a way he could keep a better eye on Wyatt. I didn’t want to go but I refused to be moved to a school without Wyatt.”
Piper barely heard anything after the ‘Dad’ comment. Chris had never referred to Leo as Dad. She mentally shook it off not wanting to derail Chris.
Chris was lost in his own thoughts for a moment before he said, “That’s it! Gideon is at magical school now, right? I can go up to Magic School to ‘check it out’ for Wyatt and get close to him.”
Piper was already shaking her head no, “I don’t want to put you in any danger.”
Chris gave her a sardonic look and said, “This can’t be any more dangerous than the underworld.” Piper couldn’t disagree.
“Fine,” Piper began, “you work on a way to make that work, I am going to study the diary but first we both need to get some sleep.”
Chris opened his mouth to object but Piper put her hand up and said, “I don’t want to hear it, mister! I already have a room ready for you. First sleep, then plans, got it?”
He looked down and responding to the voice he was quite used to in the future said, “Got it, Mom.” Piper nodded her head and walked towards the stairs. This had been a very long day, but she was feeling better. Chris was her son and they had finally determined a way to save Wyatt. When she laid down on her bed sleep took her quickly.
Chris paced the room for a moment before lying down. It would do no good to anger his mother now. Maybe sleep would help. They finally had a plan.
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
Chris left a note for his mom explaining that he was doing some scouting around Magic School and he would be home in the afternoon. Piper was not pleased that he would go off on his own but realized that he was used to working by himself. It was going to take a while for him to understand that he had family now. Piper made herself and Wyatt some breakfast and began to read through the diary again. There had to be something there that would help them to stop Gideon without resorting to calling on Leo.
She paused and looked up thinking that was something she was going to have to share with Chris; the fact that she wasn’t going to inform Leo about Chris’s parentage. She took a brief moment to wonder if she was doing the right thing but then she remembered the look on Chris’s face as he told her about his dad favoring Wyatt. No, she wouldn’t tolerate favoritism, especially not from Leo. It would be better this way, especially if she had to resort to plan B.
The days flowed into the other. Chris stayed busy trying to gather as much information about Gideon either at Magic School or down in the underworld. He was still certain that there was a demonic influence or at least demonic help. Piper and Chris often found time to peruse the diary over lunch, making it a little bit of mother son bonding time. Piper was amazed at how different she felt about Chris now that she understood his motives and more importantly, knew he was her son. It was hard to believe the little life growing inside her was this determined young man that sat in front of her. She smiled at the thought and Chris looked at her and said, “What?”
She raised her hand and brushed the hair from his eyes and said, “Thank you. Thank you for coming back to warn us.”
Chris only blushed and finished chewing his sandwich before saying, “Anytime, Mom, anytime.”
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
Piper woke feeling that something was off; today was the day of her first sonogram. She knew she should have gone much sooner but she had been so busy worrying about how to find out more about Wyatt that she neglected her own health. She got up and got ready, calling Paige to watch Wyatt so Chris could take her to the appointment. Paige told her, “Be sure to bring home pictures.”
They both watched in wonder as the screen flickered and baby Chris came into view. Chris was once again amazed at his mother’s love for him. The look on her face was pure joy and he was glad to be able to witness it. The tech proudly told them, “It’s a boy.”
Piper snorted causing Chris to laugh. At the look of confusion he explained, “I told her the baby would be a boy.” And they just left it there.
They were walking through the parking garage to the car when Piper said, “Did you see her face when you called me Mom?”
Chris laughed and said, “Well, I had to,” He lied; actually it felt as natural as breathing to call Piper ‘Mom’. “I didn’t want you to have to ground me for calling you Piper.”
Piper joined his laughter and said, “Yeah, well there was that.” They were both so involved in their conversation they missed the warning signs until the spider demon was upon them. Chris saw it just before she leapt at Piper and he shoved her out of the way, getting himself scratched trying to protect her. The demon scurried off before they could do anything to it.
He helped Piper up saying, “Are you ok?” He reached up to put his hand over the scratches because, wow, they really hurt.
Piper said, “I’m fine, how are you?”
Chris looked down at her stomach and said, “You tell me.”
Piper smiled and said, “I think you would be the first to know if mini Chris was hurt.” She had just noticed his pained expression and looked closer at him. She tugged at the arm where he was holding the scratches and said, “Let me see that.” Panic started to flood her as she realized that Chris had been hurt by the demon.
“Oh no, we gotta get you home fast. I read about this. You need to take the antidote for the spider demon's venom. Being scratched by her makes you infected.” She drove them home as quickly as she could, regretting that they hadn’t just orbed there.
She called for Paige as they came through the front door asking her to help Chris clean the wound as she hunted through the diary. Finally she found the entry. Apparently in the future version, Chris was turned by the demon and they had to call Leo to save both Piper and Chris. This is when Leo found out that Piper was pregnant.
Piper had Paige orb to get Phoebe then she quickly explained the story to them. They made the vanquishing potion for the demon and the antidote. Unlike the previous timeline they were able to get Chris to drink the antidote before he was too far gone.
Once Chris was feeling more like himself he came up with a plan. He would orb to the demon while she still thought he was affected by her venom. He could then throw the vanquishing potion at her.
Piper was already starting to argue, “No way, you aren’t going to a spider demon’s lair all by yourself. That is just too dangerous.”
Chris sighed, he knew this would happen. Now that she knew he was her son her maternal instinct had kicked right in. It was like this when he was growing up too. She never let him go on demon hunts because he was the baby. It annoyed him to no end when he was little and it felt even worse now. “Look Mom…” he began to say.
Paige interrupted him, “Piper, this is probably our best chance. The demon will think she still has control of Chris and her guard will be down. According to the book the entrance to her lair is blocked by magical spider webs, without Chris we won’t be able to get through.”
Chris gave his aunt a smile, though he shouldn’t have been surprised that she would stick up for him. She was always the one pushing Mom to allow him to go with them. It was for educational purposes back then, of course. He turned to his mother and gave her a knowing look and said, “I’ll be fine, Mom. How about this, why don’t we all go to the lair and I will go in by myself to toss the potion. I promise if there are any problems that I will orb right back out.” He gave her his most reassuring smile.
Piper didn’t want to be swayed by the argument but she had to admit that it did seem to be the best plan they had so far. She reached up and brushed his hair out of his eyes and said, “Are you sure you are feeling better. Maybe one of us should go in first.”
This time Phoebe came to his rescue saying, “Piper, he’ll be fine. You know he has lots of experience with demons.”
Both Chris and Paige gave her a look as if to say ‘not helping’. Reminding Piper that Chris used to run off by himself was not going to encourage her to allow him to go. Paige said, “Piper, really, this is the best plan and we need to hurry before the demon realizes that Chris is no longer affected.”
That got Piper. She didn’t want to be the cause of any more of Chris’s pain. She still hadn’t forgiven herself with the way she treated him before she knew who he was. She finally said, “Ok, let’s go,” then she locked eyes with Chris and said, “But be careful.”
Chris smiled and took her hand to orb her to the spider demon’s lair as he said, “I always am.”
Vanquishing the demon was easier than they thought it would be. Chris orbed in and threw the potion before the demon even recognized the threat. The Charmed ones waited outside the cave and watched as the magical spider webs disappeared and Chris emerged from the entrance with a cocky grin. “Piece of cake,” he told them and they all orbed back to the manor.
Once they were home Piper felt he needed to know the truth. “Chris, in the diary Piper said that Leo found out about the pregnancy when you were infected by the spider demon.” Chris nodded. “We didn’t call him this time and I don’t plan to tell him about you at all.” Piper looked down again wondering if she was doing the right thing.
Chris was startled, his mother never kept anything from his father in the future. “Okay.” He said.
She looked at him and said, “Just ok?”
He gave her a smile and said, “In my future he wasn’t around enough for me to really be able to consider him my father anyway. This is fine, Mom. What we really need to do is to figure out how to stop Gideon.” Piper smiled and hugged him.
“I also think we should find a way to send you back to the future.” She told him. This stopped Chris in his tracks and he said, “No way, I am here for a reason and I plan to stay until Wyatt is safe.” He didn’t mention the unspoken, ‘and you safe too.’
She put her hand on his arm and said, “Chris, I don’t want to lose you! If you stay you could die here and that is just not a chance I am willing to take.”
Chris shook his head and told her, “Alright, how about we compromise. We will start to look for a way to send me back, but I will stay until Wyatt is safe.” Piper figured that was as close as she was going to get so she agreed. They still needed to find a way to stop Gideon. Time was running out. Little Chris was going to be born within the month and if the diary was correct the date would be November 16th.
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
November 15th 2004
Chris had finally gotten close enough to Gideon to understand his plan. He watched Sigmund, Gideon’s assistant open a curtain on a wall inside Gideon’s room and speak with someone. When Sigmund left Chris opened the curtain and saw a dark version of himself staring back. They spoke, completing each other’s sentences, “Gideon is behind all of this. He was” Said good Chris.
“Trying to send me home.” Evil Chris finished. “We have to stop him. We need” Evil Chris continued.
“A spell.” Good Chris finished.
They both paused then stated at the same time, “Mom.”
They looked into the other’s eyes as good Chris said, “It is the only way to keep my Wyatt good.” At the same time that evil Chris said, “Evil.” They nodded and backed away each orbing to their own homes.
“Mom?” Chris called out when he orbed to the manor.
“In the kitchen,” replied Piper.
He walked into the kitchen to find his mother and both aunts sitting around the table. Chris explained what he saw in the strange mirror in Gideon’s office. “It has to be an alternate universe, a mirror image of this one.” he explained and then told them he needed a powerful spell. “It has to be as strong as a Power of Three spell but something I can use by myself.” Piper was about to object but Chris cut her off and said, “Look, mini me is due to be born tomorrow. We have to do this now.”
Paige said, “I hate to agree with him but he is right, we need to come up with something powerful.”
They worked through the night coming up with a spell and a potion to stop Gideon. The potion was to weaken him and the spell was to erase his memories. If they could stop him before he got to Wyatt then he would never be able to plant the seed of evil. That left fourteen years for Piper to prevent her own death. They were all feeling really good about the plan. Chris was going to wait in the attic after letting Gideon know that he would be alone with baby Wyatt. Wyatt would be safe with his mother but Gideon would come to the attic and Chris would throw the potion to weaken him and then say the spell. They had everything all planned out. What could go wrong?
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
November 16th 2004
Chris stood alone in the attic behind the Book of Shadows. A lifelike baby doll was sitting in the portable playpen. Chris looked around nervously and he heard Gideon orb in.
Several things happened at once, Piper was in a protected part of a safe house when she thought her water broke. She screamed for Paige when she noticed that there was a lot of blood instead of amniotic fluid on the floor.
Paige orbed her to the hospital, leaving baby Wyatt with Phoebe.
Wyatt sensed the danger that Chris was in and orbed to him. Their bond, although weakened from the defenses that Chris had built up over the years, was still flowing.
Chris threw the potion hitting Gideon as Wyatt orbed to the room. Chris took off at a dead run towards the baby as Gideon conjured a knife and stabbed Chris.
Chris fell to the floor reaching his hand out to his baby big brother and said, “Wy…” before closing his eyes.
Gideon was speaking as he walked away from Chris’s fallen body, “It didn’t have to be this way. You didn’t need to die. It should have been only Wyatt.”
He raised the knife above the baby’s head, saying, “This is for the greater good…” He began to swiftly lower the knife at Wyatt.
Wyatt never raised his shield, instead he stared at the knife and caused it to orb away from Gideon. The knife turned in midair and stabbed Gideon in the heart. With the potion already weakening him he fell to the ground and died. His body faded away.
Wyatt toddled over to Chris; he sat down, began to cry and said “Cwiss.” Chris opened his eyes and reached out to his brother.
It took Phoebe ten minutes to get to the manor after Wyatt orbed away from her. She raced up the stairs to find Wyatt crying over a bleeding Chris. “Oh God, Chris!” Phoebe exclaimed as she ran towards the two brothers.
“Tell Mom…” Chris began and he drew in another breath, “Wyatt saved himself. Gideon…” he coughed hard and dragged in another breath, “Gideon is dead.”
Phoebe was frantic, “Hang on Chris.”
Wyatt had raised his hand to heal Chris but nothing was working and he cried harder seeming to know that something was very wrong.
Chris wheezed again and said, “Tell her… love her…” and he died.
Phoebe screamed, “Nooooo,” as Chris’s body faded away. Phoebe picked up Wyatt and held him close to her as she sobbed. A thought suddenly hit her, “Piper.” And she ran towards the car with Wyatt in her arms.
Paige was pacing the waiting room. How long could they make her wait? Her sister was bleeding to death and her nephew was dying inside her. This couldn’t be happening. She paced for what seemed like hours. Finally Phoebe arrived with Wyatt in her arms, her face streaked with tears. Paige took one look at her and asked, “Chris?” Phoebe just shook her head no.
Paige needed more answers but just then the doctor walked into the room, “Halliwell?”
Both sisters got into the doctors personal space asking, “My sister and the baby?”
He smiled and said, “They are both going to be fine.” He led them to the recovery unit and they watched as a baby Chris was handed to Piper.
Paige had tears running down her face as she said, “Looks like we didn’t lose him after all.”
*** CHARMED *** CHARMED *** CHARMED ***
January 1, 2005
Piper sat on her bed as she compiled the scant amount of pictures they had of baby Chris. She was determined to make this the best possible baby book. She had scoured everywhere she could find to put the perfect wording under each photo. She smiled as she remembered coming across a special trilogy of poems. They were for three siblings, the oldest, the middle and the baby. She shook her head thinking about the middle child’s poem. She had that poem in her jewelry box, it was from her mother. She had always thought her mother wrote it just for her.
Piper sighed and she looked back down at the letter she had written for Chris. She and her sisters disagreed on what she was planning to do but she knew that she had to stop the trigger since she wasn’t able to stop Gideon in time. Baby Wyatt had watched his brother die and was unable to save him. Instead he had to kill an Elder to save his own life. No, they weren’t in time. She knew the seed of evil had been planted so she had to stop the trigger. She took the baby book and placed it in the attic in a box of Chris’s things. One day he would find this and know how very much she loved him.
Piper went back down the stairs and kissed her boys goodbye. She looked at her sisters and father and said, “This is the only way. You didn’t see that world; my babies will not grow up to live in that.” They didn’t say anything. She wasn’t listening to anyone. She had made up her mind that the only way to save her boys would be to remove herself from their lives. She walked out the front door only turning to say, “You’ll see, one day, you’ll see I was right.” And she left to follow her own plan B.
TBC
Chapter 5